Officer Elimination Action for Army Officer with Pattern of Misconduct
An Army Major or Field Grade Officer with nearly 20 years of military service was recommended for elimination or separation from service. His unit initiated elimination based on the Officer recently testing positive for marijuana during a urinalysis. The Soldier elected his right to a show cause board opposed to tendering her resignation as he sought to fight for his retention in the Army or in the alternative, an Honorable Discharge. He was represented by Attorney John L. Calcagni III. At the board, the government presented evidence against the Officer that established a pattern of misconduct throughout his military career. This included fraternization, using derogatory and degrading language toward junior Soldiers, indecently exposing himself to Soldiers during an APFT, violating a lawful general order by consuming alcohol while deployed to the point of visible intoxication, testing positive for marijuana during a urinalysis, as referenced above, and making false statements in a response to a written reprimand that he received for the wrongful drug use. The Officer’s record also contained derogatory information related to this misconduct such as multiple written reprimands, an Equal Opportunity (EO) complaint, record of non-judicial punishment (NJP), a Relief for Cause Officer Evaluation Report (OER) and removal from a promotion list. Attorney Calcagni responded to this negative information with a combination of concessions and attacks. He also presented extensive mitigation evidence on the Officer’s behalf. Ultimately, Attorney Calcagni successfully convinced the Board to vote for the Major’s separation from the Army with an Honorable Discharge. This was considered a miraculous result by all parties to the proceeding.