Category: Administrative Separation
AWOL vs. Desertion: Why the Difference Changes Your Maximum Punishment
AWOL vs. Desertion: Why the Difference Changes Your Maximum Punishment A service member missed movement, didn’t report back from leave on time, or has been gone for weeks and doesn’t know what they’re walking back into. The word “AWOL” gets used loosely, by the service member, by their family, sometimes even by their own command, to describe all of it. But AWOL and desertion are two different offenses under the UCMJ, with two very different…
Administrative Separation vs. Court-Martial: Which Hurts Your Record More?
Administrative Separation vs. Court-Martial: Which Hurts Your Record More? Clients almost always start from the same assumption: a court-martial is the worst-case outcome, and an ADSEP board is the lesser one. That instinct is understandable. A court-martial sounds like the more serious proceeding, and in terms of what’s immediately at stake — confinement, a punitive discharge, a federal conviction — it usually is. But “which one is worse for my record” isn’t the same question…
ADSEP Board Prep Checklist: What to Gather Before Your Hearing
ADSEP Board Prep Checklist: What to Gather Before Your Hearing By the time most service members call us about an administrative separation board, they’ve already been notifie, and they’re working against a clock. Unlike a court-martial, an ADSEP board moves fast, and what you show up with matters as much as what your attorney argues on your behalf. We represent respondents at ADSEP boards across Naval Base San Diego, MCAS Miramar, Camp Pendleton, and the…
