Article 111 (Drunken or Reckless Driving) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice describes intoxication as, “… any intoxication which is sufficient to impair the rational and full exercise of the mental or physical faculties.” If there is ANY measurable level of an intoxicant then it may be charged as reckless driving. You are correct in suggesting that the manner of driving may determine what tack the prosecutors and defenders take. But, in this particular command, any time there is a measurable amount of intoxicant, then it’s charged as a violation of Article 111. This Lieutenant was also charged with Article 108, Damage to Private Property, and Article 133, Conduct Unbecoming an Officer. She CHOSE to resign in lieu of squaring off in court. You cannot enter a plea of No Contest at a military court. She was by no means railroaded. She chose the least damaging path for herself and saved us thousands of taxpayer dollars.
I make this point in the interest of demonstrating that even zero tolerance policies don’t stop drunk driving. I point to the UCMJ because I am intimately familiar with it and the doctrine is at my fingertips. In the Army; you drink, you drive, you get caught or crash, you get fragged. That’s it. Period. They’re especially Draconian here in Germany because there are always alternatives. There’s a $250 taxi fund at the Staff Duty Officer (SDO) desk. There are also cell phones at the SDO that a Soldier can borrow if he doesn?t own one. If you need to get back to post, call a cab, have him take you to the SDO, then repay the fund later. There are trains. There are busses. There are taxis. A 100km taxi ride from Nurnberg to our post in Vilseck costs about $160, much less than the forfeiture imposed on the lowest ranking Soldier under an Article 15. There’s the Chain of Command and the NCO support channel. Finally, in a real pinch, the Staff Duty driver will come get a drunk Soldier. If the Soldier exercises this option, however, then he is the Staff Duty driver for the next four weekends. Yet, Soldiers, with all these alternatives at their fingertips and with full knowledge of the no tolerance/no mercy policies, still drink and drive.
Most importantly, we are all brethren. One of us goes down, then those who remain must shift left or right to fill the gap. This applies in garrison as well as downrange. Any one of us can call any other of us, and we will come get you.
I am in a position to see ALL the misconduct that our Soldiers commit… well, the ones who get caught. There’s a steady flow of drunk drivers even though we have driven the point home time after time after time. He WILL get an Article 15 imposed by a Squadron Commander or higher. He will lose half a month’s pay for two months, lose rank, be restricted to whatever area the Commander directs and perform extra duty for 45 days. In addition, he will not be allowed to leave the installation, not be allowed to wear civilian clothes, be barred from re-enlisting, have all favorable actions suspended (No promotions, no awards, no schools, no leaves or passes), have his license suspended for a year and have his car impounded for a year and lose his alcohol consumption privileges. Then, he must be compelling as to why he should have those privileges back. Commanders have veto power if he feels the Soldier has not improved his conduct. The Soldier will be required to attend rehab, he will receive a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, leaders will be relieved of their leadership duties, Officers and Noncommissioned Officer (NCO’s) will receive a ‘Relief for Cause’ evaluation, Officers and NCO Article 15’s and memoranda of reprimand go on their military performance record. Military Police and Soldiers in the JAG Corps can no longer work in law-related branches and must re-classify or be separated from the military. The same applies for Military Intelligence jobs. Soldiers with a Secret or Top Secret Clearance will lose it and never get it back. All those things WILL happen. The Chain of Command MAY court-martial the Soldier and/or MAY separate the Soldier from the military. Officers and NCO’s WILL be processed for separation. Junior Enlisted may get a second chance; MAY. They can also be fired for a single DUI, but that is at the discretion of their commanders. People are flawed. The world is flawed. There will always be war. There will always be crime. The climate will always change. There will always be hate and fear and unfairness and unjustness. And people will drink and drive, no matter the law, no matter the penalty.