I’m watching a movie called Soldiers Story. In the movie the barracks Master Sergeant catches a Sergeant drunk on duty. He dresses him down and as part of his punishment tells the Sergeant that he is going to “take his stripes”, then addresses him as private. My question is, does a higher ranking enlisted man have the authority to strip a lower ranking soldier of his rank? For that matter does a junior officer have the authority to do the same or does he have to get permission from a higher rank to take such action? If they do have the authority can it be done on demand or is there a procedure that has to be done?
In the United States Armed Forces, there are only two ways a Servicemember may be reduced in rank or rate:
[ol][li]as directed by a Court-martial.[/li][li]Administrative Punishment by the Officer in Charge (OIC) or Commanding Officer (CO). This punishment is known in the Army and Air Force as “Article 15”, Navy as “Captain’s Mast”, Marine Corps as “Office Hours”; I don’t know what the Coast Guard slang is for it.[/ol][/li]
The senior Servicemember does have the authority to report a punishable offense to the offending Servicemember’s OIC/CO. In other words, the MSG in your story can get the ball rolling. He does not, though, have the authority to reduce someone at will. The Master Sergeant, after all, does not have any authority at all to reduce someone.
There is a procedure involved for it. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and as outlined in the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), an offense is reported, the OIC/CO appoints an Investigating Officer under Article 32 of the UCMJ, the IO makes a recommendation to the OIC/CO as to court-martial or administrative punishment, then the OIC/CO deteremines which one to hold. If the decision is for court-martial, the OIC/CO must request such from the court-martial convening-authority for his area. If the decision is for administrative punishment, the accused can decline such, but see below.
Little known bit for Navy and (IIRC) Marines: If embarked on a vessel, the accused cannot decline admin. punishment. If the OIC/CO in that case makes a determination of guilty, then the accused cannot appeal the determination, just the severity of the punishment “awarded”.
That last part is the biggest crock of injustice in military justice in the US, if you ask me.