On 8 June, our firm reported that the Secretary of the Navy was issuing new guidelines for processing cases involving medical evaluation boards and misconduct.CONTACT US! ​We wrote:”Previously a service member’s misconduct took precedence over diagnosed mental health conditions when considering separation, which impacted the veteran’s ability to receive benefits. Now, if it contributed to...

Contrary to popular belief, drug testing labs are not always perfect. Every now and again we receive phone calls from military members who simply have no idea how their urinalysis sample tested positive for drugs. One of the problems with the drug labs is that their mistakes do not get caught unless they make a mistake on...

A recent article in the Navy Times provides an important reminder of how important it is to seek counsel before accepting or refusing nonjudicial punishment. The Navy Times reports that in San Diego 31 corpsman were taken to Captain’s Mast for allegedly cheating at the Surface Warfare Medical Unit. As noted in the article, they weren’t...

The Secretary of the Navy has announced a new administrative separation policy for Sailors and Marines with PTSD and TBI. In the past, misconduct often took precedence over mental health conditions. Previously a service member’s misconduct took precedence over diagnosed mental health conditions when considering separation, which impacted the veteran’s ability to receive benefits. Now, if...

Last week we did a Marine Corps administrative separation board for a staff sergeant who tested positive for cocaine in an amount of 121ng/ml. That’s a pretty low amount. We were successful. The board found no basis for separation. During the course of the notification process, a memorandum was sent to us (probably inadvertently) indicating Marine...