Pattern Interrupt

I want to tell you a story about something that happened in 1979, an event where telling the truth shocked everyone involved. I was stationed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. I was an administrative staff member of Casual Company, where recruits who couldn't make it through basic training ended up until they were processed for discharge. It was also a holding company for transient personnel as well as for personnel who were undergoing treatment at the alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers in Miramar, California.

Violation of a Regulation I Didn't Know Existed

Early in the evening on date that I can't remember, one of the recruits awaiting discharge approached me near my quarters above the barracks and asked to buy a portable radio with a cassette player from me. I wasn't trying to sell it, but he appeared to want it pretty badly. I wasn't a greedy person and I didn't use it very often, so I ended up selling it to him for a fraction of what it was worth. I knew he didn't have much money.

Three or four hours later, the drill instructor in charge of those recruits had someone fetch me from my quarters to come and see him. When I got there, he asked me questions like "Did this recruit steal this radio from you?" I must have been too naive to realize that he was trying to get me to respond with a "yes" in order to prevent what was going to happen, which I found out a couple of days later.

Since I told him the truth, he informed me that I was being charged for a violation of a written lawful order. It was a regulation I knew nothing about.

My Received Legal Advice

I was on very good terms with the rest of the staff. I was only 19-years old at the time and most of the rest of the staff were older people. One of the other staff members was the legal chief for the company. She advised me to refuse nonjudicial punishment and request a court-martial since she believed the charges wouldn't stick.

I didn't know it at the time, but the personnel officer (a man I would meet again nine years later on Okinawa) agreed with her.

Nonjudicial punishment (NJP) in the military is punishment that follows a military career but stays with military records, having no effect on your civilian life after leaving the military. A court-martial, on the other hand, becomes a matter of public record. All I had to do when appearing before the commanding officer was to refuse NJP and the charges would be dropped.

The Proceedings

I think I'm a pretty good judge of character now because I'm middle-aged with a lot of people experience. At the time of the proceedings, however, I merely had faith that doing the right thing would be the best approach to any situation.

After the charges were read out loud, and after my immediate superiors were allowed to speak on my behalf, I was allowed to explain what I did and why I did it. It was at that time that I was allowed to refuse NJP. When I gave my explanation, without refusing NJP, the legal chief and my immediate superiors were appeared to be in a state of shock. I was correct in that assumption, as I found out later.

The commanding officer studied me for just a few seconds after I was done and then ripped the form containing the charges in half and threw it in the waste can next to his desk. I was immediately dismissed.

The Aftermath

My superiors, as well as other seasoned veterans, told me that I was the first person they had ever seen face NJP and receive absolutely no punishment when confirming charges. That just didn't happen in those days. Instead of taking the safe route, and refusing NJP in lieu of a court-martial that wouldn't go anywhere, I chose to take the harder route by simply telling the truth. I was expected to take the safe route, by everyone.

The regulation was well-known by drill instructors at the base because they had to sign a statement of understanding before they could work with recruits. I hadn't signed such a statement. I wasn't a drill instructor.

Because of the events of my case, all permanent personnel on the base had to be informed of the regulation and sign a statement of understanding. No one else was ever charged with anything similar.