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Adultery is hardly ever charged by itself and would almost never be charged if that was the only transgression. It is normally a secondary charge to something more serious when they are "throwing the book" at someone.
The soldier that I inprocessed that was going to the stockade was married and had a sexual affair with a high ranking officer's wife. Big "oops". I worked on Fort Riley when USACA was there. Only saw this one for adultery and the other sexual offenses were child related. Although, I did see some married soldiers come in from overseas and have photos which were destroyed because it depicted "pornographic" images - yuck!
The Navy has released the results of special and general courts-martial held in March 2015. Only adultery listed here
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Army releases verdicts of January 2015 courts-martial. Only adultery listed here
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[Air Force]
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LBTRS nailed it: the one thing you'll see consistently through those court-martial results: they were charged with much *more* than adultery. Adultery, by itself, is very uncommonly charged because it's so darned hard to prove.
Unlikely they will bring charges for adultery alone but it can still put a mark in his record if the wife informs his chain of command. If she wants to do that then tell her to go to the highest ranking officer in his command and inform them.
If she is divorcing then she should get a lawyer, get him served and hopefully get a formal admission from him then present that to his commanding officer. Real scorched earth but the scumbag deserves it imo.
No one "tells" the military it is none of their business when the person is IN the military! Whaaat? Whoa! Everything the person does IS the business of the military once you join. I guess you never saw any military movies out there, or saw any old military themed shows. lol Yes the military aka government "owns" you once you decide to serve the country. THAT is what serving the country means. People need to remember what the meaning of words are anymore. You can't just out of the blue twist things to your liking. If you want to tell the government what is none of their business when taxpayer money is paying that military paycheck, then maybe you need to work for the government, so you can make the rules yourself. Where do you think that money comes from? The reason the military "owns" the people who join, is because they have to answer your actions and behaviors to the government, and to the taxpayers of the entire country who is paying that military paycheck AND benefits package for rest of that person's life.
Yes money still rules the value of it being the business of the military. People keep ignoring the value of money as a big reason why many things have value and right to know factors.
That is exactly what I said! You know, I and many others have this certain image in our minds of what a soldier is. I know that soldiers are human and everyone make mistakes, but this is the type of mistake that is just horrible and could be avoided. He could have filed divorce papers and then done his thing!
Adultery is hardly ever charged by itself and would almost never be charged if that was the only transgression. It is normally a secondary charge to something more serious when they are "throwing the book" at someone.
Sorry, folks, but this is the truth of the matter. Adultery itself is seldom charged--and when it is, it's when the military does its usual "pile it on" prosecution tactic.
"Overseas affair by an officer?"
Hell, that happens daily. "What goes TDY stays TDY"--Las Vegas didn't invent that line. When I was in the Philippines in the 80s, there was so much adultery going on I have my own ideas of why the volcano next to the base exploded. Sodom and Pompeii come to mind. We actually had a punchbowl full of condoms on the ops counter.
In order to convict someone of adultery, there are two elements that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. The adultery occurred. This isn't as easy to prove as many think. "Spent the night together in a hotel room" isn't proof--a confession or pictures of actual coitus may be.
2. The act did in fact bring disrepute upon the Armed Forces or militated against order and discipline. Most likely, a fistfight at the squadron picnic instigated by the cuckolded husband.
BOTH have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And if the affair had been successfully kept secret, element 2 is already a lost cause.
Essentially, Article 134 is a "you caused the military a lot of trouble" catch-all article. The adultery clause is not a matter of morality, it's a matter of whether the act caused the military a problem.
Now, with regard to a commander's actions short of turning the officer over to a court-martial, there are other things he may do.
Some of you may remember the situation with Lt Kelly Flynn back in the 90s. As was stated by the Air Force Chief of Staff: "In the end, this is not an issue of adultery. This is an issue about an officer, entrusted to fly nuclear weapons, who lied."
In Flynn's case, when the enlisted woman (an aircraft maintenance tech) complained about the affair to the unit First Sergeant (also a woman, btw), the Shirt told the commander he had a problem child.
What the Shirt may or may not have known, that was the third time Flynn had been before the commander for sexual impropriety (the first two had been sexual affairs with enlisted men--fraternization). Even then, Flynn only got a "cut that crap out" order...which she disobeyed.
Last edited by Ralph_Kirk; 04-26-2015 at 06:38 PM..
LBTRS nailed it: the one thing you'll see consistently through those court-martial results: they were charged with much *more* than adultery. Adultery, by itself, is very uncommonly charged because it's so darned hard to prove.
The general article (Article 134) authorizes the prosecution of offenses not specifically detailed by any other article: all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty. Clause 1 of the article involves disorders and neglect "to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces." Clause 2 involves "conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces." Clause 3 deals with non-capital offenses violating other federal law; under this clause, any such offense created by federal statute may be prosecuted under Article 134. United States v. Perkins, 47 C.M.R. 259 (Air Force Ct. of Military Review 1973)."
"The most recent version of the Manual for Courts-Martial lists the following offenses commonly prosecuted under Article 134:" I'm not listing the whole list of maybe 50+ items ... adultery .... The list is long if you wish to see it quickly go here: Uniform Code of Military Justice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If your own wife can't trust you at home or away....how can your brothers in arms trust you in combat?
It is still technically (and legally) possible to be sent to a military prison for the offense, but I never heard of an actual case while in of someone being sent to prison for adultery (there was one guy in our battalion who slept with a 15 year old girl and he did go to jail).
A loss of rank or being ushered out the door are more likely outcomes (and I have seen both).
I retired from "military service" less than 6 months ago (civil service, but working along side military in uniform exclusively).
I can tell you that adultery in the military (as in civilian life) is NOW so prevalent that the 1st course of action is a "no contact order", which if he is back from overseas and no longer physically able to have contact, is a moot point. As well, IF they ask him if he had an affair, and IF he replys NO, the burden of proof is on them to prosecute. Unless there are VERY unsavory details being left out (a minor, a person in his direct chain of command, a General Officers wife, etc)... Good luck with that....they over look it as "two consenting adults"...if people are being allowed to go AWOL now and not get prosecuted for it, figure the odds they are going after someone without morals. This ain't your daddys military anymore....
Her best bet is to get a great divorce lawyer and take him to the cleaners.....
Last edited by Paka; 04-26-2015 at 08:58 PM..
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Although, I did see some married soldiers come in from overseas and have photos which were destroyed because it depicted "pornographic" images - yuck!
