Posted on Feb 10, 2015
Married service members; is it ok to contact the service member's spouse's chain of command?
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Leaders, I have a tricky one. Have a young Soldier straight out of AIT who recently married another young Soldier from another unit. Apparently the two met during training. My Soldier was displaying some discipline issues and in an attempt to find out what was going on, I contacted his wife's CoC to find out if she was having similar issues. The conversation was informative and her CoC was supportive, but alas, the problems continued. After a few episodes of not coming to work and blatantly ignoring his duties and responsibilities, the young Soldier is facing UCMJ. Earlier this week, word came down of a positive UA for the same Soldier. What is the legality of me contacting her CoC again to inform them of his pos UA?
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Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 10
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You have asked what has to be the best question of the week.
As a former Commander, this is dangerous legally. I would get legal involved, and it is not a danger to you as it is them. The danger is you may tie their hands without meaning too. So I recommend legal advise be included in the messaging.
The reason why is you can not target a Soldier with a UA unless the right conditions are met. This gets tricky in the relm of UCMJ and you need a dancing partner. A JAG is what you need to lead the dance otherwise you risk both possible cases... possibly. Legal you got to love how tricking that stuff can be. Local JAGs will know the climate and have an investment in your success as you are supporting the command.
As a former Commander, this is dangerous legally. I would get legal involved, and it is not a danger to you as it is them. The danger is you may tie their hands without meaning too. So I recommend legal advise be included in the messaging.
The reason why is you can not target a Soldier with a UA unless the right conditions are met. This gets tricky in the relm of UCMJ and you need a dancing partner. A JAG is what you need to lead the dance otherwise you risk both possible cases... possibly. Legal you got to love how tricking that stuff can be. Local JAGs will know the climate and have an investment in your success as you are supporting the command.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Hopefully, this question does not get barriered, and so I write this post to possibly raise it up.
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CW5 Jim Steddum
As a JAG warrant officer, I think you are right on. This can be tricky. It never hurts to get advise from your unit's assigned trial counsel (at the command level). Don't do anything that will create a legal issue for commanders and lawyers to fix.
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SFC (Join to see)
YOU CAN'T DO IT!!!
This violates the Soldier's privacy rights as well as Federal HIPPA law.
Being that it is very likely he gets wind of the fact his information went public, he would have quite a bit of legal recourse.
Having said that, it is very likely his wife is wrapped up in the same behavior. A compromise suggestion:
When you next counsel the Soldier, give him an opportunity to seek treatment AND intervene on behalf of his wife. If she were to go to treatment voluntarily, you could get a win-win and possibly retain both Soldiers.
It might not work, but it is worth a shot.
YOU CAN'T DO IT!!!
This violates the Soldier's privacy rights as well as Federal HIPPA law.
Being that it is very likely he gets wind of the fact his information went public, he would have quite a bit of legal recourse.
Having said that, it is very likely his wife is wrapped up in the same behavior. A compromise suggestion:
When you next counsel the Soldier, give him an opportunity to seek treatment AND intervene on behalf of his wife. If she were to go to treatment voluntarily, you could get a win-win and possibly retain both Soldiers.
It might not work, but it is worth a shot.
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CW5 Jim Steddum
There are ways that this information can be shared. But, it depends on the circumstances and requires legal advice for the protection of the Soldiers as well as the command.
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I would suggest you get with your Commander, and have him/her contact the other Commander. This keeps you out of the crosshairs, and keeps information flowing in the right direction.
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SSgt Gregory Guina
Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS I would agree that his problems are not her problems however I would think that something like this would cause her some problems. SFC (Join to see) I would recommend calling his platoon sergeant and letting them know what's up. This is an enlisted matter and should stay that way IMO. I would be thankful to get a call like from a fellow SNCO.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
SSgt Gregory Guina I absolutely agree, and my concern is that the second he mentioned UA and a "UCMJ action," it's no longer just an enlisted matter. It sounds like it escalated farther than can be contained inside the SNCO chain. As MAJ (Join to see) mentions in his post, there are complexities.
It does sound like SFC (Join to see) tried to keep it inside the enlisted ranks based on his answers to my post, but the soldier needs a more "formal" level of corrective action at this point.
It does sound like SFC (Join to see) tried to keep it inside the enlisted ranks based on his answers to my post, but the soldier needs a more "formal" level of corrective action at this point.
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SSgt Gregory Guina
Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS You know you might be correct. I wasn't thinking about the hot urinalysis just the repercussions of the NJP. With the possibility of drug use then I agree you have to get the commander to commander thing going so that the spouse can be forced to take a urinalysis.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
SSgt Gregory Guina My gut reaction was the same as yours. "Can we keep this in house?" > Flowchart > "Nope!" > Escalate > "How far?" > Enlisted/Officer?
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