Army Staff Sergeant Approved for QMP Retention After DUI, Article 15 and Permanent GOMOR

Army Staff Sergeant Approved for QMP Retention After DUI, Article 15 and Permanent GOMOR

June 2025

Kadena Air Base / Torii Station, Okinawa, Japan (78th Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Network Enterprise Center – Okinawa)

Army Staff Sergeant – E-6

Allegations: UCMJ Article 113 Drunken or Reckless Operation of a Vehicle

Facts

This was an Army Staff Sergeant at U.S. Army Network Enterprise Center – Okinawa stopped at a SOFA field sobriety checkpoint at Gate 1, Kadena AFB, in March 2025. The defense fight kept the case at Article 15 / GOMOR / QMP-referral level, off the administrative separation track.

The breath-test result at the gate was 0.080 BrAC. Approximately three hours later at the Torii Station MP precinct, our client provided a second breathalyzer sample at 0.035 BrAC. SOFA driving privileges were revoked.

The defense narrative was the next-morning timing.

The Government's case was that, the evening prior at around 1930, our client, his spouse, and their seven-year-old daughter had eaten and drunk with friends at an izakaya outside Kadena. A senior NCO in the friend group asked for a ride to the airport the following morning. The family hired a daikō (designated-driver service) home in their own vehicle around 2230. Our client stopped drinking. He woke around 0630 feeling fine and drove the senior NCO toward the airport. The DUI checkpoint stop occurred approximately 50 minutes later.

The Field Grade Article 15 was imposed by the Battalion Commander. Item 4a finding: Guilty of All Specifications. Closed hearing. Matters in defense, extenuation, and mitigation submitted in writing. The Soldier did not appeal. The Article 15 was final and unappealed by May 2025.

The GOMOR was filed permanently in the AMHRR by the Convening General in June 2025.

HRC RET13 / QMP referral was notified in June 2025. The QMP board was scheduled for October 2025 (FY26 Evaluation Board).

The Soldier was NOT processed for administrative separation.

Tim Bilecki put the next-morning timing and the family’s use of a hired driver the night before in front of the command. He also asked the command to consider the consequences already imposed, including lost driving privileges and Article 15 forfeiture and reduction, in deciding whether to pursue separate administrative separation.

The Soldier was subsequently approved for retention through the QMP process.

Result: Article 15 imposed and not appealed. GOMOR permanently filed. HRC notified the Soldier of a QMP referral in June 2025. A separate Chapter 14 action was not initiated. The Soldier was subsequently approved for retention through QMP.

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FAQ

Q: What did Bilecki ask the command to consider?
He presented the family's use of a hired driver the night before, the timing of the next morning's drive and the consequences already imposed. The Soldier accepted the Article 15 result; the defense sought to prevent a separate Chapter 14 separation from being added to it.

Q: What happened in the QMP process?
The GOMOR was permanently filed and HRC referred our client to the Qualitative Management Program. He was subsequently approved for retention. The Article 15 and permanent reprimand remained, but the QMP review did not result in his separation.