Art. 138. Complaints of wrongs Any  member  of  the  armed  forces  who believes himself wronged by his commanding officer, and who, upon due application to that commanding officer, is refused redress, may complain  to  any  superior  commissioned officer, who shall forward the complaint to the officer  exercising  general  court-martial jurisdiction over the officer against whom it is m a d e .  T h e  o ffi c e r  exe r c i s i n g  g e n e r a l court-martial  jurisdiction  shall  examine  into the complaint and take proper measures for redressing the wrong complained of; and he shall, as soon as possible, send to the Secretary concerned a true statement of that complaint, with the proceedings had thereon. This article provides for redress of wrongs inflicted by  a  commanding  officer  on  subordinates,  and  it prescribes the procedure to be followed by subordinates to apply for such redress. Art. 139. Redress of injuries to property (a)   Whenever complaint is made to any commanding officer that willful damage has been done to the property of any person or that his  property  has  been  wrongfully  taken  by members of the armed forces, he may, under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, convene a board to investigate the complaint. The board shall consist of from one to three commissioned officers and, for the purpose of that investigation, it has power to summon  witnesses  and  examine  them  upon o a t h ,   t o   r e c e ive   d e p o s i t i o n s   o r   o t h e r documentary  evidence,  and  to  assess  the damages  sustained  against  the  responsible parties. The assessment of damages made by the  board  is  subject  to  the  approval  of  the commanding  officer,  and  in  the  amount approved by him shall be charged against the pay  of  the  offenders.  The  order  of  the commanding officer directing charges herein authorized  is  conclusive  on  any  disbursing officer for the payment by him to the injured parties  of  the  damages  as  assessed  and approved. (b) If the offenders cannot be ascertained, but the organization or detachment to which they  belong  is  known,  charges  totaling  the amount of damages assessed and approved may be  made  in  such  proportion  as  may  be considered just upon the individual members thereof who are shown to have been present at the scene at the time the damages complained of  were  inflicted,  as  determined  by  the approved findings of the board. Nonjudicial Punishment If you break a rule or are negligent, careless, or unmilitary in your conduct, an officer or petty officer may put you on report. Being  put on report  means you may  appear  before  the  commanding  officer  at  a specified time for nonjudicial punishment (UCMJ, art. 15); that is, you may appear at captain’s mast. Art. 15. Commanding Officer’s nonjudicial punishment (a)   U n d e r  s u c h  r e g u l a t i o n s  a s  t h e President  may  prescribe,  and  under  such additional regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary concerned, limitations may be placed on the powers granted by this article with  respect  to  the  kind  and  amount  of punishment  authorized,  the  categories  of commanding  officers  and  warrant  officers exercising  command  authorized  to  exercise those powers, the applicability of this article to an accused who demands trial by court-martial, and the kinds of courts-martial to which the case  may  be  referred  upon  such  a  demand. However,  except  in  the  case  of  a  member attached to or embarked in a vessel, punishment may not be imposed upon any member of the armed forces under this article if the member has, before the imposition of such punishment, demanded trial by court-martial in lieu of such punishment. Under similar regulations, rules may  be  prescribed  with  respect  to  the suspension  of  punishments  authorized hereunder. If authorized by regulations of the 2-36 Student Notes: