Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBattleship
Shek: You are absolutey correct. You must be a JAG lawyer.
However that is only passing the buck. Watch the video closely and the VA is fully incompetent in the fact that they do not tell the ex GI what equipment was damaged or missing nor do they offer any information of how or to whom the veteran can dispute the charges.
If you are charged in violating anything, even the UCMJ must tell you what wrong you are being accused of.
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Rusty,
I am not a JAG lawyer
I spent 18 months as an S-4 spent processing dozens of investigations into lost or damaged property, and 18 months as a company commander where I was signed for millions of dollars of Army property. When one's checkbook is collateral, one pays attention to the regulations
That being said, these incidents do not fall within the scope of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. There is no crime accusation here, no judicial or non-judicial punishment involved. This is strictly an administrative procedure and is covered under the purview of
AR 735-5. According to proper procedure, his unit should have sent him paperwork to which he could have responded. It is possible that an unscrupulous staff officer (a S-4) never did that and just processed the investigation instead. At this point, since he was discharged, the VA could simply have a notice saying for them to try and collect x amount of dollars.
So, while I don't know the full procedure on the collection end, it could very well be that the VA is solely like a payment collection agency that doesn't know why x amount of dollars is owed, just that it is owed. So, to target the VA may be unfair, although there was clearly a breakdown at the unit level, and the system isn't setup to short circuit and fix cases like this where the unit is at fault.