Article 15 and BSN future?

[Michael murray]

I graduate nursing school in 2019. So about halfway through right now, and I was wondering about prior military service for the nursing boards and job application. In June 2014, I received an Article 15 for, wrongful use of a military computer. Basically I sent an email as a reply all to the entire base instead of to select individuals. It was a meme about military life. Nothing offensive. and some higher up colonel on base got butt hurt and for my mistake forced my command to give me an article 15 for wrongful use of military equipment. That's literally it. I wasn't jailed. I wasn't arrested. My only punishment was a reduction in rank. I still served my full term and got an Honorable Discharge. This is my dream job and I won't don't want to jeopardize my future as BSN-CFRN (flight nurse) one day.

Should I be worried and if so what should I do. I've worked so hard for this and I don't want a civilian organization aka civilian nursing board to think I did drugs or got a DUI or something bad. Should I mention it and if so how do I get it across to them that it was stupid. I really don't want something that was stupid and small to affect my future career.

[chare]

The short answer is, maybe. For years, the conventional” wisdom said that non-judicial punishment (NJP), and the results if found guilty, would not follow you once you left the military. However, that's not necessarily true. You didn't say whether this was investigated by either the military police or criminal investigation service, however if so, the results of the might be discoverable on a criminal background investigation.

Best wishes as you move forward with school and your future career.

[Michael murray]

It was not investigated by police or any investigative service. Purely internal. And I had a background check for nursing school done and I cleared that just fine. I even looked at the background check documents and there was no mention of it on there.

[CPMSD]

I don't think you will have to worry about this. As Chare said, it is highly unlikely that an NJP will pop on your record, especially if it not associated with any civilian legal offense (DUI, assault, etc.) If you think about it, you were never actually charged with breaking any sort of law, and since it didn't escalate to a court martial hearing there was never any "conviction" or finding of guilt. But this is just me playing barracks lawyer.

If you are really worried you may want to cross post over in the government/military forum as there may be someone over there that may have had a similar experience.

[caliotter3]

My military legal record has never seen the light of day in civilian life. The one application where it was called for, I decided not to pursue.

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

civilians aren't going to even know what an article 15 is. if your state has to disclose article 15s in service, just write how stupid it all was. I really don't see them caring at all.

[Gentleman_nurse, MSN]

You're fine. An Article 15 has the legal weight of a parking ticket. Your discharge category is what people care about.

[IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN]

Only place I can think of where it might be an issue would be if you're looking at a gig with a VA facility. BON's aren't likely to care too much, so long as you disclose it on your licensure application, and whether it would matter even then depends a lot on the state you're applying in. If your school's fine with it I wouldn't sweat it.

----- Dave

[VetRobRN]

Brother, I also got a NJP, i got 30 days of restriction and 30 days extra duty. 9 times out of ten these are purely internal, punishments within the command. It seems you had a oops and no will ever find out about these considering they are not on your DD-214. Go on with your life with these memories in your rear view mirror, only to look at occasionally to reflect on what not to do. Keep kicking a@@ and taking names. Become the best health care provider you can be for your patients. And always Freedom the F*** on!