Words Influence Outcomes
At this point in my life, my high school experience writing showed writing is enjoyable, my and my experience writing a rebuttal to a fellow Mormon’s proselytizing, gave me a sense of satisfaction. It also helped me capture my thoughts but had not had any real influence on real-life outcomes. This article describes how writing did have a direct impact on my life.
Because of the Cold War in Europe in the early 1970s, the unit I was assigned to in Germany expanded rapidly. Enlisted soldiers living in the barracks with more time in the unit under their belt, and a rank of E-4 (Specialist or Corporal), could live off post. I had been seeing a German national woman on weekends. With this news, we got an apartment off-post, closer to her work but within commuting distance to the airfield where I worked.
Early one morning she woke up with severe abdominal pain. I rushed her to the nearby German hospital, and they admitted her with appendicitis. I called my unit from the hospital and said I would be late and explained what had happened. What happened next shocked me. My section sergeant said I had no obligation to her as we were not married and she was a German national. I was, however, obligated to report for duty on time or face the consequences. There was no way for me to get to the airfield in time for morning formation.
When I arrived, I was told to report to the section sergeant. When I reported, he told me he had reported me AWOL and that they would refer me to the company commander for non-judicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). It was my right at Article 15 proceedings with the Company Commander, Major Martin, to present an explanation and extenuating circumstances.
The type and amount of punishment is determined at the discretion of the company commander commensurate with the commander’s rank. Normally, a captain commands a company, but a major commanded the unit I was assigned to because it was a critical aviation unit. This rank gave the company commander the authority to administer more severe punishments.
I had about a week before the Article 15 proceedings and took every opportunity to research what I could present and started writing my defense. I had already experienced some success with writing a rebuttal to a fellow soldier’s incessant attempts to convert me to the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
My writing starts with an idea; sometimes abstract, sometime very concrete. I started outlining what happened and what I believed. With this outline, I felt it was necessary to show the fact that I was approved to live off post and that my chain of command had also approved of where I lived. I collected the documents that supported these facts and summarized them, adding more meat to the outline.
What was not clearly defined, either through explicit approval or denial, was cohabitating with my girlfriend. I researched and added information supporting cohabitation was implicitly condoned because it was relatively commonplace, my section sergeant has conducted a welfare inspection, and we had discussed that I was living with my girlfriend. He had made no comment that it was not allowed, and he had approved the welfare inspection. This information had fleshed out, although in a circumstantial way, the implicit approval to live with my girlfriend. The outline now had meat on two major sections.
The last section, about my moral obligation, had no basis other than being a good human being. I drew on the mission of the Army. The very reason we were in Germany as that “shining light” as the basis for the moral obligation.
With an outline and paragraphs fleshing out each point, it was now a matter of crafting sentences that best illustrated the point, rewriting a sentence here, a different clause there, substituting word to add strength.
When it was all said and done, I had written six pages describing the situation from the unit allowing soldiers to live off post, the approval by the unit of the apartment I was living in and the moral obligation I had to another human to provide care.
The day of the proceedings arrived, and I reported to the commander as ordered. When given the opportunity to present my case, I gave the company commander my document. He read the document carefully and then asked if I had the Judge Advocate General’s office prepare the document. I told him I had prepared it myself.
He explained that after the charges were filed and the violation was confirmed; he had no leeway in dismissing the charges but had discretion in the amount and type of punishment. My defense had convinced him I had done the right thing, and he administered the minimum allowable punishment.
Not only was writing something I enjoyed doing, but this incident and the previous incident with the Mormon in my unit trying to convert me made me acutely aware that writing could influence real consequences. These two incidents, along with others during my time in Germany, motivated me to pursue a law degree. Although that didn’t actually happen for other reasons, the incidents did set the foundation for a lifetime of writing.