CONFINEMENT ON BREAD AND WATEROR DIMINISHED RATIONS.—Confinement onbread and water or diminished rations may be imposedonly on enlisted persons E-3 and below aboard ship.EXTRA DUTY.—Extra duty is the assignment ofany duty (except guard duty) to be performed after theperson’s regular working hours. Extra duty is not toexceed 2 hours daily or to be performed on holidays.Petty officers may not be assigned extra duties thatwould demean their grade or position.FORFEITURE OF PAY.—Forfeiture of pay is apermanent loss of a specified amount or a temporarywithholding of a certain amount of pay. The detentionperiod must be specified. The money detained isnormally returned at the end of the detention period, butit can be detained for a period of 1 year.APPEALS.—If persons consider their punishmentunder article 15 to be unjust or out of proportion to theoffense, they may appeal to the next superior authorityin the chain of command. The appeal must be madewithin a reasonable time (generally 5 days) andpromptly forwarded. If the superior authority upholdsthe appeal, all rights, privileges, and property arerestored.P ROT E C T I O N AG A I N S T S E L F -INCRIMINATION.—Under article 31 of the UCMJ,compulsory self-incrimination is prohibited. Theaccused must be informed of the nature of the chargesagainst him/her. The accused must also be advised thathe/she does not have to make any statement regardingthe offense of which accused, but that any statementmade may be used as evidence against him/her in a trialby court-martial. No statement obtained through the useof coercion, unlawful influence, or unlawfulinducement may be used as evidence against theaccused.MERITORIOUS AND REQUEST MASTS.—Not all masts are for disciplinary purposes. Ameritorious mast may be held by the commandingofficer to give awards or commendations to thosepersons who have earned them.Article 1107 of Navy Regs grants the right for anyperson to communicate with the commanding officer.You can’t just walk up to the captain, however, and starttalking. For the purpose of hearing valid requests orcomplaints from crew members, the CO sets certaintimes aside. This practice is called request mast. Theperson having a request or grievance should first try toresolve the problem through the chain of command.Failing that, the person may request mast.COURTS-MARTIALBased on article 16 of the UCMJ, courts-martial areof three types: summary, special, and general. Thecaptain decides the type of court-martial to award basedon the nature, time, and place of the offense.Summary Courts-MartialAsummarycourt-martialconsistsofonecommissioned officer. If the commanding officer is theonly officer with the command, that officer acts as thesummary court officer. A summary court can award anysentence that may be given at mast. It can also award theadditional punishments of confinement for 1 month andhard labor without confinement for 45 days. Any personawarded confinement at a summary court-martial willthen be held, as appropriate.Special Courts-MartialA special court-martial consists of not less thanthree members; or a military judge and not less thanthree members; or only a military judge. When amilitary judge (a qualified lawyer) is detailed to thecourt, the accused has the right to know the identity ofthe military judge. The accused also has the right toconsult with the defense counsel and to request that thecourt consist of only the military judge. The requestmust be in writing, submitted before the court isassembled, and approved by the military judge. Aspecial court-martial may award the same punishmentas a summary court, or it may award a more severepunishment. For example, it can award a bad-conductdischarge, confinement for 6 months, loss of two-thirdspay per month for 6 months, and hard labor withoutconfinement for 3 months.2-38Student Notes:
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