the punishment. The officer to whom the appeal is made may set aside the punishment and restore
the Soldier; remit, mitigate, or suspend the unexecuted portion of the punishment.
7. Maximum punishment for an Article 15, if given by a company grade commander, is 14
days restriction, 14 days extra duty, 7 days correctional custody, 7 days forfeiture of pay, and
reduction of one pay grade. If given by a field grade commander, maximum punishment is 60 days
restriction, 45 days extra duty, 30 days correctional custody, and forfeiture of one-half of 1 month's
pay for 2 months. In most cases the maximum punishment is not imposed. In addition, if the
accused is an E4 or lower, he may be reduced to the lowest enlisted grade. Enlisted personnel in a
pay grade above E4 may not be reduced more than two pay grades.
8. Judicial Level (Court-Martial). Once it is determined that administrative action or
nonjudicial punishment is not sufficient because of the seriousness of the offense committed, the
commander must resort to court-martial action.
9. Charges and Specifications. The initial action required to begin the judicial process is the
drawing of the charge sheet. Any person subject to the code may prefer charges. In most cases,
charges are preferred by the commander who exercises immediate jurisdiction over the accused
under Article 15. The charge indicates the article of the code that the accused is alleged to have
violated. The specification identifies the accused and sets forth specific facts and circumstances
believed to constitute the offense. The specification must allege the acts that support every element
of the offense. Once the charges have been prepared and Article 15 punishment has either been
refused or considered inadequate, the charges are normally forwarded to the commander exercising
summary court-martial authority.
10. Summary Court-Martial. A company commander does not have the authority to convene a
summary court-martial. He can only recommend this action to the proper convening authority--
normally the next higher headquarters. The summary court-martial convening authority may take
one of the following courses of action: dismiss the charges, take administrative action, offer the
accused an Article 15, convene a summary court-martial, or forward the charges to the special
court-martial convening authority.
11. Membership on a summary court-martial consists of one commissioned officer who acts as
judge, trial counsel, defense counsel, and jury. Preferably, this officer should be the grade of
captain or above.
12. The accused does not have the right to be detailed a military lawyer at a summary court-
martial. However, the accused may consult with the staff judge advocate prior to trial. He may hire
his own civilian lawyer, and if he does so, he has an absolute right to that lawyer's presence at the
proceeding.
13. Maximum punishment that may be imposed by a summary court-martial is 1 month of
confinement, or 2 months restriction, or 45 days extra duty, and forfeiture of two-thirds of 1 month's
pay, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade.
14. All persons subject to the code may be tried by summary court-martial except
commissioned and warrant officers and cadets. However, any member of the armed services may
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