A letter of reprimand is a US Department of Defense procedure involving a letter to an

employee Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

service member Military personnel or military service members are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, coast guard, air force, and space force), rank ( office ...

from their superior that details the wrongful actions of the person and the

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

that can be expected. A ''Formal Letter of Reprimand'' is one in which a copy of the letter is kept in the personal service record of the individual. In

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

contexts, a formal letter of reprimand can be

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

-ending, even without prescribed punishments, because it makes it difficult to secure advancements in rank or to enjoy the respect of one's peers. In legal contexts, a letter of reprimand is sometimes called a ''letter of admonition''. It is the lowest form of attorney

discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

under the Code of Professional Responsibility. The United States Manual for Court Martial, R.C.M. 306(c)(2), states:

Administrative action. A commander may take or initiate administrative action, in addition to or instead of other action non-judicial punishment (Article 15 or "NJP") and court-martial">nonjudicial punishment">non-judicial punishment (Article 15 or "NJP") and court-martialtaken under this rule, subject to regulations of the Secretary concerned. Administrative actions include corrective measures such as counseling, admonition, reprimand, exhortation, disapproval, criticism, censure, reproach, rebuke, extra military instruction, or the administrative withholding of privileges, or any combination of the above.

The order of severity for formal written administrative action is: * a letter of counsel (least severe) * a memorandum of concern * a letter of admonishment * a letter of reprimand. A letter of reprimand may be issued in lieu of punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A formal letter of reprimand is placed in the service member's permanent personnel record. In the US Navy, a letter of reprimand can only be given as a result of non-judicial punishment or a court-martial conviction.

Examples

In July 1945, after delivering the Little Boy atomic bomb to Tinian, the USS ''Indianapolis'' was torpedoed in the Philippine Sea. When the ship was sunk, most of the crew were stranded at sea for 5 days where they staved off shark attacks and dehydration. In the aftermath of the disaster, some US naval officers in Leyte, Philippines, were given letters of reprimand, because they failed to note that the ship was missing. The ''Indianapolis'' commander, Charles B. McVay III, was also given a letter of reprimand before being court-martialed and eventually exonerated, but not before he committed suicide. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt was reprimanded for the Tarnak Farm incident, in which on April 17, 2002, he dropped a 500-pound bomb on Canadian soldiers near Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing four and injuring eight others. On September 25, 2008, the Department of Defense announced that six

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and two US Army generals and nine colonels had received letters of reprimand, admonishment, or concern because of the mishandling of fuses for nuclear weapons, which were mistakenly shipped to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz met with each officer personally before issuing the letters. He noted they committed no offense under the UCMJ but "did not do enough to carry out their leadership responsibilities for nuclear oversight. For that they must be held accountable."The Associated Press.
Military cites poor oversight in mistaken shipment of warheads to Taiwan
" NBC News, Sept. 25, 2008; accessed 2008-09-26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter Of Reprimand United States military law