I am considering a Congressional inquiry...what advice do you have?

SSG(P) (Join to see)

First, let me say that, as a parent, I feel your pain and know that you are concerned about your daughter. We all want to do whatever we can to protect them, even after they have grown up and left home.

Having said that, I think that you should probably stay out of her situation and let her handle her own problems. She is an adult and a military member. While I am not suggesting that she may not be totally honest with you about what happened, she is telling you her side of the story. I think we have all been around long enough to realize that there are always two sides to the story and, usually, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I think you would be much better served offering advice and support to your daughter than trying to get Congressmen and Governors all spun up. They cannot really impact the outcome (particularly in the short time period mentioned) as all they can do is display interest and obtain the facts. Does that ensure commanders will do the right thing? Maybe... but I think that most will do what they think is right regardless of who is watching or asking. It is the commander's decision on what to do concerning the UCMJ... If the commander decides to go to court-martial rather than offer an Art 15, that is his/her call and nobody can change it (not the next higher commander, IGs, Congressmen, or anybody else). To do so would be Unlawful Command Influence, which is prohibited. I have been in that situation on a couple of occasions and had the moral courage to do what I thought right, regardless of who was trying to convince me otherwise. If anything, outsiders being involved only made me dig my heels in and continue the action with more vigor.

I honestly think that your involvement will have no impact on the situation. Sure, it will cause a little inconvenience and work for the chain of command, but that is all in the course of business. Your daughter has the right to appeal if she thinks she was mistreated and I urge her to do that, if that is what she truly believes. In that way, the whole situation will be reviewed by the next higher chain of command.

My experience with Congressionals is that they simply make the complainant feel good but rarely, if ever, have an impact on the situation/issue, particularly when it comes to military justice issues.

I used to handle Congressionals in this manner. When I received one, I would call the person in who wrote the Congressman and sit down with them to prepare the response. 99% of the time, the response WE sent to the Congressman was the same response the individual had received before he/she wrote the Congressman. The only difference was that he/she got my response immediately instead of the several weeks it took to get a response (the same response) from a Congressman. People who think commanders are influenced by questions from Congressmen are simply wrong, unless they are that very small minority who really are purposely doing something wrong.

Again, I know how you feel and I feel your pain, but I honestly think you should stay out of this, except to offer your daughter parental support and guidance. Anything else you do may make you feel good, but will have no impact on the outcome.

First off not knowing too much on the whole situation, but regardless yes her command should have a JAG officer that will prosecute, but they are also liable to have another one to represent her, and she can hire one on her own. If they are not doing this then they are very wrong, she should have already been in contact with a lawyer of her own to help defend her, if not then something is defiantly not right.

I posted this as a reply to a poster below, but I think it's important enough for a top-level response... I have seen the "she is entitled to military counsel" statement several times in this thread.

This is FALSE. You are not entitled to a provided military counsel in the case of a Summary Court. Rule for Courts-Martial 1301(e), Part II, Manual for Courts-Martial United States (2012). The service in question can do so as a matter of policy (I don't know the Navy stance), it can chose to do so in a specific case, or the accused can hire private counsel.

The only way to FORCE the service to provide counsel would be to refuse the Summary Court, which she has the right to do. However, it should be borne in mind that a Summary Court is much more limited in the punishments that it can impose. It's a two-edged sword.