Legal Question in Military Law in California

Something here does not make sense. The Army does not schedules these boards for you. AR 135-178 has a clear outline of the procedures. You are to be notified. You have 30 days to reply by endorsement. You are the one that requests the hearing assuming you have at least six years in.

Retaliation will be hard to prove especially if there is a valid reason for unsat performance that they can prove. Get with your counsel immediately. Your military lawyer can call the convening authority of of the board and ask the what is happening before you meet.

It is not uncommon for the command to try to rush through an administrative discharge. You and your counsel can object to this date and ask that it be continued to give you enough time to be prepared. There are regulations which govern the convening and handling of separation boards and those permit time for the defense to be prepared. Your attorney should know these regulations and know how to request more time if that is needed.

You need to meet with your counsel ASAP to begin to prepare for your case. You need to tell him everything about your case so that he can make intelligent and informed opinions about how best to proceed. If you are being separated for unsatisfactory performance, that will have to be documented and established. If you think their evidence is not accurate, it can be challenged and rebutted with your evidence. If you believe this is all due to retaliation, you will have to try to prove that. You will have to find some link between the two actions to show a retaliatory motive which may be hard to do. Bottom line is that these boards depend on evidence being presented by both sides so you need to work with your attorney to develop the evidence which supports your case and challenge the evidence they intend to present.

I hope this helps. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] or (757) 420-9321.