Correcting a mistake

In the Army, a company commander has a surprising degree of disciplinary power over junior enlisted personnel. In one situation I had this past week, this authority allowed me to fix a mistake I'd made in September.

At the beginning of that month, I approved a soldier's promotion that they should not have received. As I later learned, the soldier did not have a valid physical fitness test on record, so they were not eligible. Plus, by their supervisor's estimation, the soldier had not earned it through their job performance.

Nevertheless, the promotion stood, it went into effect one 1 October, and I learned not to rely on only a single person's advice when it comes to promotions.

Last week, that newly promoted soldier validated my poor decision with one of their own, and it came to me for adjudication under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I made the decision to reduce them to their previous grade, assign them to extra duty for a week, and restrict them to post for a week.

What I didn't do was dock the soldier's pay or go with the maximum 14 days for extra duty/restriction. My philosophy on disciplinary action is to stop wrong behavior and dissuade others from the same action, not just hammer people, so I didn't think that was necessary.

There was another consideration as well. The soldier is set to leave Korea soon, and I don't want them to leave without some sort of recognition for their year's worth of contributions. By their punishment ending after only one week, it allows their section enough time to write up a modest award and submit it with enough time for normal processing.

Hopefully the soldier learns as much from their side of things as I have from mine.