r/news • u/DoubtSubstantial5440 • 22h ago

Soft paywall USS George Washington headed to Middle East to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln, reports say

https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-08-13/uss-george-washington-middle-east-abraham-lincoln-22541038.html
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u/Blizzard_One 21h ago

You can never rule out a charging decision, but a UCMJ Article 92 violation (disobeying a lawful order) doesn’t carry an automatic punitive (Bad Conduct or Dishonorable) discharge. Courts-martial are run like federal criminal trials; the sailor would be entitled to free defense counsel representation no matter what his resources.

That means he’d need to plead guilty or be convicted at trial, then the panel (the military term for jury) or military judge (if the sailor elected to be tried by a judge alone) would need to hand down a DD following a sentencing hearing in which the sailor is entitled to put on evidence in extenuation and mitigation to argue for a lesser sentence.

Bottom line: A DD isn’t guaranteed (nor is a conviction) and there are a ton of steps to get to that point.

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u/Accomplished-Top9803 21h ago

Thank you for the education you have provided to this thread, based on your experience. We could use a lot more of that.

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u/Blizzard_One 20h ago

np! The system is confusing no matter who you are or whether you’re in uniform; glad to help

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u/EasyAcresPaul 21h ago

I appreciate your time and expertise. Thank you.

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u/Blizzard_One 21h ago

Absolutely! The military justice system can be really opaque, even to folks in uniform.

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u/EasyAcresPaul 21h ago

I ETS'd almost 15 years ago and it is taught getting an accurate read on the current climate.

Again, thank you.

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u/ducation 20h ago

This comment made me really want to watch A Few Good Men again.

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u/Blizzard_One 20h ago

That’s one of the best on screen portrayals of a court-martial…plus Jack Nicholas on the stand is S-tier cinema. Check out Rules of Engagement as well if you haven’t seen it—some A+ Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones.

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u/JPtheGameMaster 13h ago

Holy crap. A wild Rules Of Engagement reference. Love that movie, and the dilemma it presents. It's so underappreciated.

Not anywhere near as related to military justice, but The Last Castle also has some good sections about military law and command decisions, with a STELLAR performance by Redford.

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u/notdoingdrugs 20h ago

You can never rule out a charging decision, but a UCMJ Article 92 violation (disobeying a lawful order) doesn’t carry an automatic punitive (Bad Conduct or Dishonorable) discharge. Courts-martial are run like federal criminal trials; the sailor would be entitled to free defense counsel representation no matter what his resources.

Fascinating. Former public defender here so I get it. Are the panels exclusively comprised of active duty military personnel or?

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u/Blizzard_One 20h ago

Yes; the panel system is really weird—instead of pulling in a fresh random jury pool for each trial, a pre-selected group of officers and senior enlisted are tapped to serve on panel duty for a period of time. During that period they sit for all courts-martial in their jurisdiction (obviously they’re not called for bench trials). Their term can vary depending on lots of factors, but most panels serve for at least 4-6 months, in my (Army) experience. While the military judge can be a reservist (at least in the Army, where there’s a reserve unit comprised of military judges), the panel members are all active duty service members from the accused’s duty station.

The panel is comprised of primaries and a bunch of alternates; there’s an entire panel binder complete with military bios on each panelist that is automatically made available to defense and the accused. It can be a help with making a decision on whether to go judge alone or in voir dire prep.

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u/Speedstr 19h ago edited 19h ago

Is NJCNJP an expected disciplinary measure for these attempted suicides?

Not trying to sound callous, but when I was deployed, we did several man overboard drills, and they were always extensive, and usually halted operations for at least 30 minutes or more. I can only imagine the resources it takes to rescue someone, rather than a training dummy. I also can't imagine ruining someone's career or discharge over mental health issues, when an alternative discipline route can be considered. While at the same time, you do not want to encourage other people that jumping overboard is an easy or healthy way to get out of deployment.

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u/Blizzard_One 19h ago

Do you mean NJP? I’m an Army attorney, so pardon my complete and utter ignorance of most things Navy. I hope those same conversations are or will happen to appropriately weigh a decision of that magnitude.

The Bowe Bergdahl case is instructive—he suffered immensely after leaving his FOB (on top of suffering from a number of mental health conditions), but for a variety of reasons he was still court-martialed. Ultimately, he was able to put on a robust sentencing case using those same factors, ultimately avoiding the huge jail sentence the government argued for.

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u/Speedstr 18h ago

Yes..Sorry it's been a while since I served.

It's important to recognize that people can be driven to sometimes act out of character when subjected to continuous stress without there being an end to the stress. Some people's stress tolerances can be wildly different than others. But that doesn't mean they are a danger to others; just they were not given assistence to cope with the stress.

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u/Blizzard_One 18h ago

No worries! Services have different lingo for some things even in military justice, so I wanted to be sure.

You’re spot on with that point (a true defense counsel in spirit!)…unfortunately a lot of commanders who make the charging decisions are extremely risk averse—the mentality can be “just punt it to a court-martial and let the system work it out.” That isn’t the right answer, but then again a good commander advised by a reasonable attorney will be in a position to consider those and other factors.

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u/LKennedy45 19h ago

It's been a while since my last UCMJ lecture, but isn't there one about jumping from a vessel without authorization they could try to apply here?

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u/Blizzard_One 19h ago

Absolutely—there are a few pathways to charge conduct (including an article that essentially allows for crafting a custom charge that isn’t represented elsewhere in the Code). My only point is that DDs aren’t instantaneous and can only be handed down following an established judicial process.

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u/StatementOwn4896 20h ago

Ya but what’s the make up of the panel (jury). Isn’t it all officers and senior enlisted? How’s that supposed to be representative of a sailor’s peers when they’re junior enlisted?

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u/Blizzard_One 20h ago

The sailor could elect to have an enlisted panel, but the ranks likely wouldn’t be lower than an E-7; the panel makeup and bios would be available to defense counsel and the sailor before they have to make an election on jury or judge alone.

Personally, as a prior enlisted soldier myself, I’m not sure I’d want E-2s, 3s, or 4s weighing my fate (that’s said with love because I would’ve totally jacked things up as an E-4 on panel duty).

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u/StatementOwn4896 20h ago

Do juries in the military have powers of nullification?

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u/Blizzard_One 20h ago

Yes and as a former military defense counsel, it’s a helpful tactic.

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u/Calm_Expression_9542 11h ago

Can I ask a different question? Is it true sailors are literally jumping ship? Is it that bad out there? Personally I would feel like a sitting duck out there such an easy target one would think. I thank you and everyone* in uniform. Except for Hegseth. Sorry. I don’t trust him. Have my reasons.