2-4involving enlisted personnel starts in town, you musthelp in quieting the disturbance, whether an officer ispresent or not. If you face such a situation and you doyour job to the best of your ability, you can be proud.If an enlisted person violates a regulation in thepresence of both an officer and a petty officer, the pettyofficer should correct the person. Failing to correct theperson could result in a reprimand for the petty officer.Figure 2-1 shows three official sources for basicdisciplinary laws. The UCMJ is an appendix of theManual for Courts-Martial.Figure 2-1.—Three official sources for basic disciplinary laws.The best form of discipline is positive action gearedto prevent disciplinary problems before they happen.Effective leaders use that type of discipline to helppersons understand the need for regulations and the needto abide by them. To receive loyalty and willingobedience from those under you, you must set anexample of high personal standards and moral conduct.In setting a proper example for your people, how canyou report somebody for being out of uniform if youshow up at muster looking like you have slept in youruniform for 3 days? If you show up late for muster,reporting one of your people for showing up late wouldbe unfair. So, you must set the example and maintain thehighest standards for your people to follow. Remember,the way you act is also the way your people will act.Each time a petty officer helps a shipmate keep aclean record, that PO is living up to the highesttraditions of the Navy. Except for major infractions ofthe UCMJ, putting people on report should be done onlyas a last resort. You always should try other methods ofcorrection—appeal to pride, disapproval of specialrequests (which emphasizes that approval of specialrequests is for the more deserving), encourage teamspirit, and so forth—first. Only after you try othermethods of correction and those fail should you place anenlisted person on report for a minor offense.The Navy has personnel of high caliber who can betrusted and who do their work well. However, many ofthem will at some time commit an infraction, such asaccidentally being out of uniform, being a couple ofminutes late to quarters, or failing to salute an officer.You would be unwise to place people on report fortrivial offenses. You should use initiative and commonsense to help keep them out of trouble. Repeatedlyputting persons on report for minor infractions reflectson your leadership ability, and you will soon findyourself heartily disliked by personnel under you. On theother hand, the "good guy" who tries to maintainpopularity and never reports a person is a menace todiscipline and a nuisance to all petty officers.Report of Offense ProcessingIn spite of your best efforts and those of the divisionofficer, some personnel will be, among other things,insubordinate, indifferent to wearing the proper uniform,and lax in relieving watches on time. Some also willmalinger or fight. Those are the people who must be puton report, unpleasant though it may be. All you aredoing is reporting to the commanding officer a violationof military order or discipline; the captain decideswhether to punish the person.Placing a person on report (starting a charge againstthe individual) means letting the proper authority (CO,XO, CDO, OOD, legal officer, military police, securityor MAA force, or any superior in the chain of command)know about the apparent misconduct. Your notificationcan be oral or in the form of a written report chit. If yourcommand has a locally prepared report chit, you shoulduse that form; otherwise, you can use the standard Navyreport chit, Report and Disposition of Offense(s),NAVPERS 1626/7, as shown in figure 2-2. Whicheverform you use, make your report as complete, accurate,and specific as possible.
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