Regimental Disciplinary Process

This is the Document Release Information
Article Number:	7CAV-R-013
Scope:	The Regimental Disciplinary Process
Version:	1.2
Effective Date:	26NOV20
Last Modified Date:	26MAR24
Approving Authority:	Regimental Commanding Officer
Point of Contact:	Regimental Executive Officer

Regimental Disciplinary Process

The Regimental Disciplinary Process is the mechanism in which discipline is enforced and administrated in the 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment. It is a tiered, escalating system of counseling and punishment intended to correct behavior, and in more severe cases punish the offender, while providing retributive justice to the affected by lapses in discipline. Although the 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment is an all volunteer based organization, this system ensures that other members are not adversely affected by the unjust actions of some and maintains the morale and well-being of the larger whole.

Intent

The intent of the Regimental Disciplinary Process is to correct behavior by recognizing a mistake was made and then giving the offender a pathway forward to better address the issue the next time, if not outright fix it. This will make the offender a better member, and come out of the disciplinary process stronger together with their direct CoC on the other side. The 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment believes in second chances, so all members will be afforded the opportunity to address and correct their mistakes (except possibly in the most grievous of offenses).

The Chain of Command plays a vital role in this process to coach, mentor, and lift up the offender, recognize the mistake/issue together, apply appropriate consequences (as applicable), and give the offender a pathway forward to address the issue. Any counseling or punishment must be documented so that if the issue is not solved and repeats itself, further actions can be taken and/or escalated. Failure to issue and document appropriate counseling or discipline is a failure of responsibility of the CoC that inhibits/delays action, fails to address the problem, and such inaction or negligence can lead to counseling or discipline by one's superiors in the CoC.

Stages

The disciplinary process is divided into four stages. These stages are the Developmental Counseling Statement, Letter of Reprimand, Article 15, and the Article 32. Counseling is the lowest tier of the system, and is not considered to be a punishment. Members that exhibit a deficiency in their performance that is unrelated to their conduct, and not done with malice are counseled. Examples of this include missing training regularly. While this member is not doing so with intent, they are still harming the organization and their Section partners by not being present when they said they would. In this case, counseling would be used to demonstrate to the member their deficiency, and develop an action plan to correct it. The Letter of Reprimand is the second step of the process. If a member does anything that is considered serious, and un-counselled, that violates the UCMJ, SOP, a General Order, or game ROE, they could be subject to this punishment. The third step is the Article 15 Hearing and Investigation. During this step, a command authority may order an investigation into matters that are deemed serious enough within the scope of their command. The grounds to convene an Article 15 investigation are the same of a Letter of Reprimand, but are for more serious occurrences. Or, upon completion of an Article 15 investigation hearing, if the alleged offence is revealed to be of the utmost seriousness, it may be elevated to a trial by Court Martial. The fourth and final step is the Article 32 Investigation and Court Martial. The Court Martial may impose the most severe punishments, up to and including Dishonorable Discharge, making a member found guilty unable to rejoin our community forever.

Sequence of the Disciplinary Process

The disciplinary process is a tiered system. However, that does not preclude the process from being convened at any step. Rather, the process should apply the level of scrutiny, and punishment possible depending on the seriousness of the alleged offence. A minor, first occurrence of an issue should be handled at the lowest level. The goal of the disciplinary process is not to apply the most severe punishment. It is to rehabilitate the offender through counselling or retributive justice, and ultimately return the offender to their unit more productive and effectively counselled. Retributive justice and harsh punishments are only applied when it is in the interest of upholding discipline and preventing a deterioration of morale.

As the figure above displays, the appropriate command authority will determine at which level the process should start, or refers to a superior competent commander to make the determination, depending on the initial facts of the alleged offence. Repeated violations of the same nature will likely necessitate the next disciplinary action being more severe than the last. This is because the last measure was ineffective, as the member failed to overcome their deficiency.

Commander's Discretion

Extremely severe issues may be escalated to the highest level. Command authorities at all levels are empowered to attempt to solve the issue at the lowest level. The Battalion Commanding Officer or Department First-in-Charge (1IC) is responsible to administer all discipline up and to the Article 15 level. Any gravely serious events requiring Article 32 investigation and/or Court Martial are elevated to the Regimental Headquarters, and are serviced by the Judge Advocate General Corps.

Scope of Authority

Decisions and escalations of the Regimental Disciplinary Process are to made by the appropriate command authority within the Chain of Command (CoC) of the member in question. Issues outside this chain are to be reported to the next command authority in the trooper's CoC with all relevant information and testimonies.

Per Chain of Command Right of Review, command authorities maintain the authority to implement the appropriate disciplinary process steps for all members inside the scope of their command. This scope of authority can also be delegated to subordinates within their command.

Examples of scope:

• A Battalion Commanding Officer may execute discipline for a trooper within their Battalion, but not of another Battalion.
• A Company Commander may execute discipline for a trooper within their Company, but not of another Company.
• A Platoon Leader may execute discipline for a trooper within their Platoon, not not of another Platoon.
• A Department 1IC may execute discipline for a member within their department, not of another department.

Please see the Scope, Delegation of Authority, and Orders Chain of Command SOP for further details about scope.
Please see the Billet Removal SOP for further details about removing members from a billet.

Developmental Counseling Statement

The Developmental Counseling Statement, abbreviated as DCS, is a non-punitive measure designed to correct behavior that is not considered to be negligent or done with malice or ill intent. The intent of the DCS is to coach and rehabilitate an individual. The goal of the DCS is to rehabilitate the individual, discuss and identify shortcomings, and develop an action plan to solve them with measures that will prevent a reoccurrence. Developmental Counseling Statements are recorded and stored by the Chain of Command to document a conversation took place and this documentation is required to escalate with further action if the issue or problem is not solved and repeats itself after 90 days. They do not prevent a member from attending training, classes, operations, being promoted, or joining secondary/support departments. As a non-punitive measure, it is not a punishment and will never go on a member's permanent MILPACS record.

Letter of Reprimand

The Letter of Reprimand or LOR is a punitive measure that enacts a consequence for a serious infraction, or several repeated minor infractions of the same type. Generally, a Letter of Reprimand is issued when a member willingly or knowingly violates a UCMJ article, SOP, General Order, or ROE, or fails to uphold a policy to such a manner that it could be considered negligent. The Letter of Reprimand is a record of the event that occurred, and also has a similar discussion and action plan section. The LOR ensures that the member is provided all the facts surrounding the offence, and that they understand where they violated a policy or procedure, and gives them a pathway forward to fix the more serious issue.

Article 15 - Commander's Investigation and Hearing

An Article 15 Commander's Investigation and Hearing or ART15, unofficially known as non-judicial punishment or NJP, is a mechanism by which a Commanding Officer (of a unit) may order an independent investigation into a serious alleged offence, and determine if it has occurred. If the command authority in charge of the investigation believes on a balance of probabilities that the offence has occurred, they may impose a series of punishments against the offender. Because this punishment occurs at the unit level, the command authority must only prove that there is greater than a 50% chance the offence occurred. In other words, it was more likely the offence occurred than it did not. Because of the lower standard of probability, this is reserved for less serious offences, in the interest of resolving them quickly and returning the accused back to their duties as a performing member of the unit. Still, the Article 15 hearing itself is considered a punishment, unless the case is dismissed due a lack of evidence.

Escalation of an Article-15 Hearing

Once the command authority is given the results of the investigation, it may become clear that the offence is more serious than initially suspected. If this is the case, the command authority of a unit will consult with the Judge Advocate General Corps, and possibly escalate the case to an Article 32 hearing, which can result in a Court Martial.

Article 32 - Pre-Trial Investigation and Court Martial

The Article 32 - Pre Trial Investigation and Court Martial is the last, and most serious investigation and punishment that may be imposed upon a 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment member. Once an Article 15 investigation is turned over to the Judge Advocates branch, a more in depth investigation will occur. Here, the investigators will apply the strict rules of evidence used in a civilian court. If it is deemed that a conviction is likely, a court martial will be convened. A court martial is a military trial, that follows the same rules as a civil criminal trial. The case is presented by the prosecution, and the alleged offender is represented by legal counsel. A military judge determines if the case has met the standard of beyond all reasonable doubt, also known as the BRD standard. Essentially, the court will attempt to determine if the evidence is strong enough that a reasonable, rational person could be convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the offender did commit the offence, and did so willingly and knowingly. A court martial may impose the most serious punishments, including reduction in rank, or dishonorable discharge from the 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment.

Consequences

Consequences or punishment for punitive actions (LOR, ART15, and ART32) will be determined and limited by each tier of disciplinary action used. A common form of punishment for all of them, however, is they are always notated on a member's MILPACS and include No Favorable Actions or NFA, which are defined below.

Notation on MILPACS

Notation on MILPACS means the S1 Department add an entry of the disciplinary action's date, type, and citation on the member's MILPACS, which documents the disciplinary action as a permanent record.

No Favorable Action

No Favorable Action (NFA) is a common form of punitive action that has the following consequences:

• Lasts for 30 days. If multiple punishments (multiple LOR's, etc) are on record that overlap, each period of NFA must be served in full before moving on to the next period of NFA.
• May not attend classes.
• Can attend operations but you receive no credit for the operation and may not be recommended for any combat medals.
• Personnel currently under a period of NFA are not eligible for any medals or awards.
  • 30 days is added to the time-in-service required for your next Army Good Conduct Medal.
• Personnel currently under a period of NFA are not eligible for promotion.
  • 30 days is added to the time-in-grade required for your next promotion.
• Transfers are not a favorable action, therefore NFA does not prevent transfer. However, active NFA does prevent transfer into the Reserves and transfers can be held by staff to complete any discplinary actions. Please see Trooper Transfers for more details.
• Personnel currently under a period of NFA may not join Secondary/Support Departments during that period.
• Personnel who discharge during a period of NFA will be discharged as Less Than Honorable per Guidelines for Enlistment, Re-Enlistment, Discharge, and Retirement SOP.
• Personnel who discharge during a period of NFA, who re-enlist at a later date, will continue to serve the remainder of the NFA upon re-enlistment per Guidelines for Enlistment, Re-Enlistment, Discharge, and Retirement SOP.

Conclusion

While the disciplinary process serves as a method of retributive justice, it also provides an effect of deterrence. However, the main objectives of the system are to counsel and rehabilitate all offenders, with the goal of reintegrating them to their units and have them become productive members of the 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment.

Regimental Disciplinary Process
Counseling	Developmental Counseling Statement (DCS)
Repeated Minor Offences or Serious Offences	Letter of Reprimand (LOR) • Article 15 - Commander's Investigation and Hearing
Repeated Serious Offences or Gravely Serious Offences	Article 32 - Pre-Trial Investigation and Court Martial