OTH upgrade and RE4 upgrade?

[bryceman41]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
California

i have an army DRB in August of this year.
Heres my situation:
In October 2010, i was deployed to logar province, afghanistan with the 10th mtn division. On feburary 3rd, the day before i was suppose to go on my 15 days of R&R, me and 3 other soldiers were snitched on for allegedly smoking "hashish."(marijuana) never caught in the act what so ever. They questioned us and drug tested us, i never recieved my drug test results, nor did i comment on any questioning. They kept us in our 200 man combat outpost for 7 months doing labor and took away my weapon even while we came under attack. so i had nothing to protect my self with. In September of 2011 we finally arrived back to Fort Polk, LA which is where our base is at. And were processed out of the army with an OTH discharge, no benefits, no counseling, no rehab, nothing. my secret security clearance was revoked as well. basically all i want is, to allow them to let me re-enlist into the army and finish my time. i didnt even finish my first term. i was airborne qualified, 300 pt stud, expert marksmen. i mean i didnt have a problem with the army at all, i actually wanted to go SF or ranger batt.
-ive already started working on certifications to help at the review board. i got a concrete field testing technician cert. and i am working on recieveing my personal trainer certification as well which i should have before the review date. and doing military fundrasier things... I plan on getting a military attorney as well.


any ideas? im 20years old btw

 

[asiny]

On feburary 3rd, the day before i was suppose to go on my 15 days of R&R, me and 3 other soldiers were snitched on for allegedly smoking "hashish."(marijuana) never caught in the act what so ever. They questioned us and drug tested us, i never recieved my drug test results, nor did i comment on any questioning.

What do you think the results of the drug test revealed?

Most people who commit crimes are not 'caught in the act' but a witness / snitch usually leads to questioning, followed by an investigation.

 

[Proseguru]

I assume you took an article 15?

And the reason is for drug use?


And you were in the Army?

If they booted you out then no other service will take you, even if you upgraded your discharge to a RE2.

 

[garrula lingua]

OP, you're in the state with the strongest attorney advocates for military/vets.

Check into 'swords into plowshares'. They're based in CA. I've attended a continuing legal education webinar from those folks a few years ago, regarding helping veterans both with VA benefits and upgrading their discharges.

Get that discharge upgraded. Swords was a non- profit organization; I"m not sure how they are surviving the budget crunch.

They are proficient at upgrades from less than honorable. Do pursue this.
One thing I would do is order my military and medical records; off-hand, I think it's form 180 on the va.gov website. You want to see what's in your file ... See exactly what the panel will be looking at.
The issue of reenlisting is a separate issue. Pursue the upgrade to clear your name, allow more job opportunity ( you have to explain the LTH to employers) and allow VA benefits (including college).
With the impending downsizing of the military, many may not be able to reenlist.
Thank you for your service, and good luck.

 

[bryceman41]

What do you think the results of the drug test revealed?

Most people who commit crimes are not 'caught in the act' but a witness / snitch usually leads to questioning, followed by an investigation.

They never gave me my results. Ya they did do an inviestigation.

 

[bryceman41]

OP, you're in the state with the strongest attorney advocates for military/vets.

Check into 'swords into plowshares'. They're based in CA. I've attended a continuing legal education webinar from those folks a few years ago, regarding helping veterans both with VA benefits and upgrading their discharges.

Get that discharge upgraded. Swords was a non- profit organization; I"m not sure how they are surviving the budget crunch.

They are proficient at upgrades from less than honorable. Do pursue this.
One thing I would do is order my military and medical records; off-hand, I think it's form 180 on the va.gov website. You want to see what's in your file ... See exactly what the panel will be looking at.
The issue of reenlisting is a separate issue. Pursue the upgrade to clear your name, allow more job opportunity ( you have to explain the LTH to employers) and allow VA benefits (including college).
With the impending downsizing of the military, many may not be able to reenlist.
Thank you for your service, and good luck.

I'm getting a military civilian attorney and I'm gonna try to reenlist and reclass. As a medic and I have certifications and what not to help during the hearing..this isn't happening for another 8 months, the hearing itself.

 

[bryceman41]

I assume you took an article 15?

And the reason is for drug use?


And you were in the Army?

If they booted you out then no other service will take you, even if you upgraded your discharge to a RE2.

Yes 45days extra duty. Oconus. Kept there for 7 months doing labor with no weapons either while being attacked. I never said I smoked and they never gave me my urinalysis results back either. I'm getting a military atttorney as well.

 

[Proseguru]

Yes 45days extra duty. Oconus. Kept there for 7 months doing labor with no weapons either while being attacked. I never said I smoked and they never gave me my urinalysis results back either. I'm getting a military atttorney as well.

Never gave you your drug test back? Its not your drug test, its the Army's.

You did not take this to trial so you had not right to see the drug test results but given your CO's actions it appears as if it came back positive. The Article 15 put in front of you would have told you this.

Want to argue you did not use drugs? Too late - you accepted the Article 15. I assume they told you that you would be re-evaluated to decide if they would separate you or not (its a trick -- 95% get separated) & at the end of the evaluation period you were given your discharge papers.

Never accept an Article 15 if you are clear of the charges.

One could argue that the Article 15 process itself is a sham ... I saw some guys go through it for not having their boots shined and then get discharged. But in my unit this type of offense is seen as a major breach in discipline -- not having uniform ironed well enough, etc. But this is when the cold war was in progress and the prospect of nuking the crap outta everyone was pretty much considered to be a given.

 

[bryceman41]

okay but heres the thing:
- my commander didnt like me because i could out PT him anyday of the week and he would always like spy on me when im working out... i came from the 75th so thats why he didnt like me. also we had a change of command in the middle of our deployment so he left to go to ranger batt.(basically said **** these guys im leaving i dont care what happens to them) and another CO came up and even he said its stupid we are getting chaptered out for this.
-i did get an art15. but what does that have to do with anything? reduction in rank and no pay for a month. i mean iv talked to civilian lawyers who were former military and they said its possible to get my discharge upgraded to general under honorable, its just gonna cost some money. im also doing civilian certifcations, like EMT courses and personal training to help at my board hearing. i dont think i was given a fair trial in afghanistan. i waived my discharge review board in afghanistan because i figured if i waived it, the faster i would get out of the warzone. let alone we never had a weapon for the 7months we were segregated and came under attack multiple times, with no means of being able to protect ourselves.





- what i wanna know is, why does a marine corps staff sgt. plead guilty to killing 24 iraqi civilians and only gets reduction in rank. Why is it that i know my 1sgt was drinking alcolhol while on duty,(i can get witnesses too) as well as other NCO's getting mailed alcohol during a deployment and not get into trouble???? i know dudes that were smoking weed the whole time and i didnt say one word or snitch on anyone. all they have on me is by word of mouth FROM an AFGHANISTAN BORN interpreter, never caught in the act whatso ever.... i mean does that make sense to you??? all i wanna do is finish my time honorably. this is bull**** the only reason they kicked us out is because of the economy, thats why everyone is being discharged/chaptered out for the most nitpicky ****. let alone i was at the ****tiest leg unit in the army probably. 4/10th MTN BCT in louisiana. the forgotten child, while the rest are at fort drum.

 

[bryceman41]

and about the drug test....1 of the soldiers i was with was told that a few of the UA came up negative yet, they stll kicked us out, we had to go up and ask them about the results. no one told me either. so i dont know if i tested positive or not.

 

[garrula lingua]

I don't believe 'Swords' charged their veterans.
They've taught many attorneys how to handle upgrades as well as VA compensation and pension.