The BOHICA Act

[Deleted]

WHEREAS Talossa has an active, all volunteer armed service and

WHEREAS serving one's country is a good thing and

WHEREAS all good things must come to an end and

WHEREAS veterans of the Talossan military should be afforded due credit for their service so

THEREFORE it be resolved that members shall be discharged from the military under one of the three following discharge characters:

HONOURABLE - Awarded to a member who, upon discharge, has conducted themselves with honour during the period of their enlistment and to whom any lesser discharge would be inappropriate.

GENERAL - Awarded to a member whose record of conduct is marred by some minor disciplinary infractions. This discharge will be awarded upon recommendation of a senior officer and is subject to final approval by the Minister of Defence.

DISMISSAL - A removal from the service due to severe disciplinary infractions or conviction by the High Cort or as laid out by active military law and regulation. The final approving authority for awarding this discharge to an enlisted person is the Minister of Defence and the King for Officers and Warrant Officers.

All veterans discharged under HONOURABLE or GENERAL conditions will be entitled to wear all military medals awarded during their service. Service members who are DISMISSED from the service of the King may not re-enter military service unless authority is granted by the Royal Household.

Discharges may be upgraded after the fact by Royal decree or a ruling made by a Discharge Review Board and signed by the Minister of Defence. No discharge may be downgraded after being issued.

Veterans discharged under GENERAL conditions or who are DISMISSED from the King's service may make a formal request for review by the Discharge Review Board and the Minister of Defence to consider an upgrade of discharge character.

Service members approved for "Retired" status will be awarded an Honourable Discharge and will be permitted to retain their rank with the post-nominal "Ret." or "Retired" along with the member's respective branch of service.

Uréu q'estadra så: T.M. Asmourescu

[Brad Holmes]

Knowing what BOHICA stands for, I gotta ask why is it the name for this bill?

[Deleted]

I think anyone who has ever gone through separation processing would understand fully...

"Hurry up and wait" is ten times worse than when you enlisted in the first place..

You have to run all around the base to get your medical and dentals screenings finished..

In short, a good chunk of people view the separation/discharge process as being the military's way of "sticking it to you" one more time.

So the name of the bill was kind of tongue-in-cheek. I'm always open to suggestions if anyone would prefer a more respectable name (like my previous, "Military Honours Act")

[Brad Holmes]

I suppose. But I don't really know, not having gone through it yet.

I think something to do with Judgment Day would be entertaining. After all this bill deals with overall judgment of performance while in.

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

" Military Court Martial" ...

Cart, meet horse. We need to establish the Military Court....

Oh, and some of the best weeks of my (U.S. ) Military life were spent in BOHICA.

[Deleted]

I removed that reference but left the one regarding active military regulation. If the military establishes a court martial system and makes it official, this act would still give a court martial authority to determine character of discharge.

Whatcha think?

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Just my two cents:

It is my personal opinion that court martial systems are pretty unjust and unfair, would it not be better to just place offenders in the regular court system?

[Brad Holmes]

Jul 16, 2008 16:07:05 GMT -6 Dréu Gavárþic'h said:

Just my two cents:

It is my personal opinion that court martial systems are pretty unjust and unfair, would it not be better to just place offenders in the regular court system?

No.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Like I said... just my two cents.

[Brad Holmes]

Jul 16, 2008 16:26:34 GMT -6 Dréu Gavárþic'h said:

Like I said... just my two cents.

And you're entitled to them.

It is my personal opinion that court martial systems are pretty unjust and unfair...

How did you come to this personal opinion?

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

Well, first off War Paths, though I realize that that is the French army, but also when I read the Military Code of Conduct or whatever it's called and I see the crimes you can be convicted for and the punishments met out for the crimes... it just doesn't seem very right.

[Deleted]

Dreu....study the UCMJ and the entire Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) while you are at it. Then, after you have sufficiently reviewed the topic, formulate an INFORMED opinion and share it.

Courts-Martial are not the topic of discussion here, it is simply a law which allow us to have veterans. Presently, you can join the military, but we have no system for discharging a person. What if Mick decides he's had enough living in the shadow of the Navy and wants to leave the service, this way, we can give him an Honourable Discharge, just like other nations do for their veterans.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

A very well-written law. I was concerned about Organicity, but it seems clean through. And since this is an expansion of current laws, I think it is meritorious. Exact regulations and procedures can be established via fiat of MinDef, but something of this breadth needs a law to authorize it.

[Flip Molinar]

I will wholeheartedly support this bill. A truly necessary step for our armed forces.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the feedback, Alex. My thought process is this...

The MoD can issue all the titles and awards it wants. What carries weight is when it is backed by law. Things like the Military Honours Act give some weight to the medals we award and now, it will help us to recognize those who step up to serve. For those who serve us well, they may walk away as Veterans with an Honourable Discharge. If, God forbid, a person were to do something really not nice, we are covered on that front as well.

Things like court-martial regulation and the like are internal matters that should not require the Cosa to vote on. Naturally, we have to behave within the law, but as a military force, we should also step up and regulate ourselves.

I didn't see a conflict with the OrgLaw, it seems that it also passed the scrutiny of Alex, who often catches those little quirks I am prone to ignore. If we have no organic conflicts and you folks are on board with it, I'd say this puppy is ready for some serious clarking.