Bilecki Challenges Major’s Account at Board; Gunnery Sergeant Retained at Rank

Bilecki Challenges Major’s Account at Board; Gunnery Sergeant Retained at Rank

March 2024

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan

Marine Gunnery Sergeant – E-7

Allegations: UCMJ Article 89 Disrespect Toward a Superior Commissioned Officer

Facts

A Marine Gunnery Sergeant at MCAS Iwakuni was notified of administrative separation under MCO 1900.16 paragraph 6210.6 (Misconduct, Commission of a Serious Offense) for a single email accusing a Major in his chain of command of having "no integrity." The recommended characterization was Other Than Honorable. Under MARCORSEPMAN, an Other Than Honorable at pay grade E-4 or above triggers reduction to E-3 effective on separation. For a Gunnery Sergeant approaching retirement, the OTH plus reduction combination strips both the discharge characterization and the rank built over fifteen-plus years of service.

Our client retained Bilecki at the AdSep notification stage.

The defense did not run from the email. The defense ran at it.

The argument at the Board was simple. Our client sent the email. He sent it because the Major in fact had no integrity. The email needed to be sent. The only one with integrity in the chain was the Marine willing to put his name on the document and stand behind it.

Our client took the stand at the Board and said exactly that. Cross-examination of the Major was aggressive, on the integrity question and on the documentary record the Major had built around the contradiction between his face-to-face counseling of our client weeks earlier and the adverse FitRep he submitted afterward. The defense went after the command for routing a single email through Misconduct, Commission of a Serious Offense with an Other Than Honorable recommendation against a fifteen-year Gunnery Sergeant approaching retirement.

It was a bold theory. It worked.

Tim Bilecki traveled to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan for the Administrative Separation Board.

The Board found No Basis for separation. The Marine was retained on active duty.

Result: AdSep Board found No Basis. Marine retained on active duty. Rank preserved.

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FAQ

Q: Why did Bilecki acknowledge that the Gunnery Sergeant sent the email?
Authorship was not the disputed point. The defense argued that the email had to be understood against the Major’s own conduct. Tim confronted the Major with the difference between his earlier counseling and the adverse fitness report he later submitted, while our client testified about why he sent the message. The argument was specific to that record, not a general right to insult a superior officer.

Q: What did the board decide?
It found no basis for separation. The Marine remained on active duty at his existing rank, avoiding the proposed OTH separation and associated reduction.