ADMINISTRATIVE OR DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Actions discussed here are reserved for aggravated cases of service members who show no inclination to settle qualified debts referred to them through their commands. Such cases involve members who continually overextend themselves despite prior difficulties from, and warnings regarding, living beyond their means. Repeated complaints from the same creditor or multiple complaints from different sources are the usual indications of these problems.

Administrative Separations

Service members may be separated for misconduct due to a pattern of misconduct when they exhibit an established pattern of dishonorable failure to pay just debts. Processing for misconduct could result in an other than honorable separation with attendant loss of service benefits. In each case, the member must have received prior counseling from an appropriate financial counselor or, if necessary, full family counseling if it appears that domestic relations or alcohol abuse might be, in part, responsible for the indebtedness. He or she must also be given a reasonable time to show progress in his or her efforts to become solvent. Following counseling, a warning entry is made on page 13 of the member's service record.

Disciplinary Action

Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), includes the offense of dishonorable failure to pay a just debt that carries a maximum punishment of 6 months' confinement, forfeiture of all pay and

Figure 14-4.-Sample letter to creditor who continues to show no evidence of meeting compliance-disclosure requirements.

Figure 14-5.-Sample letter to answer congressional inquiry.

allowances, and a bad-conduct discharge. Deceit, willful evasion, false promise, or other circumstances showing deliberate nonpayment or gross indifference must be proved to establish the offense. Nonjudicial punishment or court-martial action may be initiated under Article 134, UCMJ, at the discretion of the command. Remember, however, that disciplinary action is never an appropriate vehicle for assisting creditors in the collection of debts. Moreover, disciplinary action not resulting in discharge is likely to produce financial hardship in the form of reduction or forfeiture, an end not likely to rehabilitate the debtor. Accordingly, it must be decided in each case whether administrative actions, rather than disciplinary measures, may offer better solutions to aggravated indebtedness situations.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Earlier in this chapter we discussed that the primary purpose of the Naval Legal Service Command and its subordinate offices is to provide necessary legal services to commands and personnel in specified geographical areas. It is possible that you maybe supervising one of the legal offices that is tasked with providing those legal services to Navy commands and their personnel in your area. This is nothing more than a customer service

function on a command scale. Although you are not a lawyer, many customers will look to you as the senior LN for the legal advice and service they require. Therefore, it is essential that you establish a well-run liaison with those commands.

Although each command that you service will have similar, and often the same, legal problems that need attention, the problems and the urgency with which they are attended could vary greatly depending on the size of the command and its primary mission. For instance, a ship about to get underway would need court-martial services done much more quickly than a naval station whose accused and other interested parties are stationed ashore and will be readily available for some time to come. As the office supervisor, you should recognize the differences in the needs of the commands you service and assign your personnel accordingly.

Coordination between your office and the commands you service will run more smoothly if you establish reliable contacts at each command. Although the point of contact will usually be the person who handles the command's legal work, that person may be junior to most of the people he or she may be dealing with in the command. Therefore, you may need to develop a point of contact with a more senior person who has the power to make sure things you need the command to do to help you better serve it are done in a timely and _{efficient manner.} It does no good to have your best workers servicing other commands if they are constantly being frustrated by a lack of cooperation on the other end. Liaison is a two-way street, and the smoother the coordination between each command, the better the personnel who really need the help are serviced.

SUMMARY

This chapter emphasized office organization and _management. Their importance to command mission cannot be overstated. Your understanding of both the mission and the people that contribute to its success is an integral element to your success as a manager. Lastly, it is important for you to remember that in office management the key is involvement.