A separation board is not an Article 15, otherwise referred to as non-judicial punishment (NJP). An Article 15 will stem from some alleged misconduct that is found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
For example, you are accused of failing to report to formation on time multiple times. This could be titled as a UCMJ Article 86 violation. Your Article 15 will be presented at either a Company Grade or Field Grade Article 15. All that means is the level of commander who is issuing you the Article 15. Traditionally, servicemembers “take” the Article 15, to which they may lose rank and/or pay or have some sort of extra duty assigned. However, if you “turn down” the Article 15, the matter will go to court-martial.
This “take” or “turn down” decision is not made during your “first reading.” A first reading of your Article 15 is where the command team brings you in and reads the language of the Article 15 out loud to you. From there, you will be directed to speak with a military defense lawyer because in a very short period of time you will be brought in for your “second reading” of the Article 15, at which point you either “take” the Article 15 or “turn down” the Article 15.
Why would you turn down an Article 15? If you take the Article 15, that may not be the end of the line of what can happen to you. One of the most common Article 15 matters is for an alleged failed urinalysis (UA). If you allegedly fail the UA, you will be brought in for an Article 15 for an alleged UCMJ Article 112a (drug use). If you simply take the Article 15, you will be separated from the military, either directly because you do not have enough years in service to be entitled to a separation board or by separation board. Turning down that Article 15 gives you a right to a court-martial. The UCMJ 112a Article 15 is one of the most common seen. However, that is not the end of your military career. Criminal defense lawyer Anthony Villalobos has successfully told multiple clients to turn down the Article 15 and beaten their drug use allegation at court-martial or had the command team realize the UA was completely botched and outright dismiss all charges against his clients.
If you are facing an Article 15, you should contact military criminal defense lawyer Anthony Villalobos at 312-890-6645 or his law firm, The Law Office of Purav Bhatt, for a free consultation.
Separation Board 