The Risks of Non-Cooperation

Non-Judicial Punishment (NJP) or Court-Martial

Refusing to follow orders, going UA or AWOL, or refusing to wear your uniform are all violations of the UCMJ and could result in nonjudicial punishment (Article 15s, Captain's Masts, or Office Hours) or even court-martial. Even though your actions result from your CO beliefs, you could be sentenced to prison and a Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharge. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has held that, in most cases, CO beliefs are no defense to court-martial charges. Once you have been charged with a violation of the UCMJ, the military may stop processing your CO claim until your court-martial or NJP, including all appeals, is over and you have either been acquitted or finished serving your sentence. Even if they continue to process your claim, they will not discharge you as a CO until your case is over and you've served your sentence, if any. If you are convicted by a special or general court-martial, you could be sentenced to a Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharge. Unless your conviction is reversed or your sentence changed to remove the bad discharge, you will never receive a CO discharge. A Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharge will keep you from receiving veterans benefits.

If you are court-martialled but not sentenced to a discharge, or if you are acquitted, the military will again consider your CO claim--unless they decide to give you some other administrative discharge.

Other Administrative Discharges

Rather than court-martial you or subject you to NJP, the military may simply discharge you using an administrative discharge other than CO. For instance, the military may discharge you if they determine that it is in their best interest. The discharge you receive would probably be either an Honorable or General Discharge. If the military wants to give you an Other Than Honorable Discharge, you will have the right to an Administrative Board hearing. The military might decide to give you an administrative discharge even if you are court-martialled and acquitted. The military will often, but not always, give administrative discharges when a person's noncooperation has been made an issue by the news media. In many cases they would rather quietly discharge someone than court-martial him or her and receive bad press coverage. In other cases, however, publicity can actually cause them to treat you more harshly, especially during a war or mobilization. (See If There Is a War....)

VA Benefits

When you apply for CO discharge, you must sign a statement saying you understand that if you are discharged as a CO who has disobeyed lawful orders, refused to perform military duty, or refused to wear the uniform, you will not receive VA benefits. This law affects only COs who are noncooperators. It doesn't affect most people because most people don't resist. Those who do are usually discharged not as COs but on other grounds.

However, should you be given an NJP or be court-martialled for refusing to wear your uniform, obey a lawful order, or perform military duty, and still receive a CO discharge, you would be deprived of VA benefits. Going AWOL or UA is not considered refusing to perform military duty, disobeying a lawful order, or refusing to wear the uniform. So if you go AWOL or UA you should not be deprived of VA benefits under this law.