Consequences for willfully violating the UCMJ

In a somewhat similar way to Pvt. Chelsea Manning’s choice to willfully violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for what she hoped would be for a greater good, I know what it’s like to willfully violate the UCMJ for what I hoped would be for a greater good. Our choices too were similar because we both engaged in our willful violations of the law as trans women.

Pvt. Manning chose to release 700,000 classified documents that covered mostly U.S. military and State Department actions into 2010. She hoped the release of the classified material would lead to “worldwide discussion, debates and reforms.”

I twice joined other uniformed LGBT community military veterans to protest in uniform to push for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). We handcuffed ourselves to the White House fence once in March and once in November of 2010 with the intent of being arrested and taken to jail as a media event designed to keep the issue of DADT repeal in the nation’s 24-hour news cycles.

Uniquely among those protestors that took to the White House fence though, I was a military service retiree – I served in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 2000. I still receive pay and benefits from the Department of Defense (DOD). And, because I receive pay and benefits from the DOD, I’m still subject to the UCMJ; I can be recalled to service to face court martial if superiors at the DOD deem an action I may have undertaken to be a serious enough violation of the UCMJ to warrant my recall.

When I took to the White House fence twice in 2010, I believed I was doing the right thing for a right reason. I still believe that. When Pvt. Manning released the 700,000 classified documents, she no doubt believed she was doing the right thing for a right reason.

But, having my belief about my own actions regarding those protests I participated in, I had no illusion that what I was doing was violating the explicit direction of Navy uniform regulations. That regulation states “Members of the Navy and Marine Corps, including retired members and members of reserve components are prohibited from wearing uniforms of the naval service while attending or participating in a demonstration, assembly or activity knowing that a purpose of the demonstration, assembly or activity supports personal or partisan views on political, social, economic or religious issues.” And, I knew there could be serious consequences to violating military law.

And, violating a military regulation is a UCMJ Article 92 offence: Failure To Obey Order Or Regulation. It’s a significant violation: the maximum punishment for Failure To Obey Order Or Regulation is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement for two years. In other words, one can lose one’s entire retirement pay in a court martial, and a dishonorable discharge designates a veteran ineligible for other DOD benefits as well, such as exchange, commissary and health care benefits. As a disabled veteran, I would have lost pay and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as well.

Much as Pvt. Manning, I was legally male when I committed my offenses – if I had been recalled to service, court martialed and sentenced to confinement, I would have been confined in a facility with men. And, I would have been in the position that Pvt. Manning currently finds herself in: wanting my gender dysphoria treated in accordance with the accepted standards of care at a military confinement facility that doesn’t want to treat that condition. For me, not receiving appropriate treatment would have been the most severe punishment of them all.

One could make the case that I did nothing wrong – I was standing up for the civil rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual servicemembers. I know others have said it of Pvt. Manning – some have directly communicated that to me.

But there are always possible consequences to violating the law. When I chose to violate the UCMJ I knew that severe consequences could follow my actions; Pvt. Manning had to know that severe consequences could follow her actions.

Neither Pvt. Manning nor I experienced the worst possible outcome for our actions. A lesson here perhaps is found in the realization that when one violates the law for something one with conviction believes in, one has to be prepared for significant personal sacrifices.