The best form of discipline is positive action geared to prevent disciplinary problems before they happen. Effective leaders use that type of discipline to help persons understand the need for regulations and the need to abide by them. To receive loyalty and willing obedience from those under you, you must set an example of high personal standards and moral conduct. In setting a proper example for your people, how can you report somebody for being out of uniform if you show up at muster looking like you have slept in your uniform for 3 days? If you show up late for muster, reporting one of your people for showing up late would be unfair. So, you must set the example and maintain the highest 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 a clean record, that PO is living up to the highest traditions of the Navy. Except for major infractions of the  UCMJ, putting people on report should be done only as a last resort. You always should try other methods of correction—appeal to pride, disapproval of special requests (which emphasizes that approval of special requests is for the more deserving), encourage team spirit, and so forth—first. Only after you try other methods of correction and those fail should you place an enlisted person on report for a minor offense. The Navy has personnel of high caliber who can be trusted and who do their work well. However, many of them will at some time commit an infraction, such as accidentally being out of uniform, being a couple of minutes late to quarters, or failing to salute an officer. You would be unwise to place people on report for trivial offenses. You should use initiative and common sense to help keep them out of trouble. Repeatedly putting persons on report for minor infractions reflects on your leadership ability, and you will soon find yourself heartily disliked by personnel under you. On the other hand, the “good guy” who tries to maintain popularity and never reports a person is a menace to discipline and a nuisance to all petty officers. Report of Offense Processing In spite of your best efforts and those of the division officer, some personnel will be, among other things, insubordinate, indifferent to wearing the proper uniform, and lax in relieving watches on time. Some also will malinger or fight. Those are the people who must be put on report, unpleasant though it may be. All you are doing is reporting to the commanding officer a violation of military order or discipline; the captain decides whether to punish the person. Placing a person on report (starting a charge against the individual) means letting the proper authority (CO, XO, CDO, OOD, legal officer, military police, security or MAA force, or any superior in the chain  of  command)  know  about  the  apparent misconduct. Your notification can be oral or in the form of a written report chit. If your command has a locally prepared report chit, you should use that form; otherwise, you can use the standard Navy report chit, Report and Disposition of Offense(s), NAVPERS 1626/7, as shown in figure 2-2. Whichever form you use, make your report as complete, accurate, and specific as possible. Figure 2-2 shows the correct manner for completing the NAVPERS 1626/7. Be sure to include the following information: date of report; accused’s name, rate, social security number, branch of service, and division; date and place of offense (including the pertinent article of the  UCMJ, if known); complete identification of all witnesses; and your rate and signature. The unit legal office usually will type your initial report chit in proper form for record purposes, so the accuracy and the completeness of the information you submit are important. In addition, investigation of the report chit is easier if you include adequate information. If you use the NAVPERS 1626/7, do not concern yourself with any part of the form after the portion about article 31, UCMJ (compulsory self-incrimination prohibited), which explains the rights of the accused. The legal office personnel will complete the remainder of the form. The next step in the processing of a report chit is for the commanding officer to assign a junior officer or senior petty officer to conduct a preliminary inquiry of the alleged offense(s). The results of the preliminary inquiry then go to the executive officer’s inquiry (XOI), also known as a screening mast. At the XOI, the executive officer will either dismiss the report chit or forward it to the commanding officer for captain’s mast. At captain’s mast, the commanding officer will review the report chit, the results of the preliminary 2-4 Q3. Your responsibilities as a petty officer end when you are on liberty. 1. True 2. False REVIEW QUESTION