In addition to adminstrative actions, military members are subject to punishment under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Article 15 non-judicial punishments are also called “15s”, “NJPs,” “Articles,” and “Captain’s masts”).
An Article 15 is an offer of forum, where the offering commander is offering the member a choice of forum: to handle the punishment at that commander’s level. If a member accepts an Article 15, only the forum is being accepted, the member can still respond and argue that the alleged offense was not committed. The member also has a right to instead demand trial by court-martial. This is calling “turning down” the Article 15.
Before turning down an Article 15, the member needs to truly understand the risks of doing so. Veritas Military Law has advised servicemembers, commanders, and lawyers about offering and responding to NJPs for truly minor offenses through offenses normally handled at serious general courts-martial.
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