Mobile summary courts martial set examples

Capt. Craig Dunham, 81st Training Wing assistant staff judge advocate, swears in Airman 1st Class Zachary Tagai, 334th Training Squadron, during a summary court martial Feb. 8, 2013, at the Levitow Training Support Facility, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Dunham was the prosecutor and Tagai was a witness in the trial. Mobile summary courts martial set an example for new Airmen about consequences of their actions by quickly imposing good order and discipline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Mobile summary courts martial set examples

Staff Sgt. Christopher Vroman, 334th Training Squadron combat controller, stands ready with a pair of shackles in hand to place on the defendant following sentencing during a summary court martial Feb. 8, 2013, at the Levitow Training Support Facility, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Mobile summary courts martial set an example for new Airmen about consequences of their actions by quickly imposing good order and discipline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Mobile summary courts martial set examples

Capt. Craig Dunham, 81st Training Wing assistant staff judge advocate and trial prosecutor, and Airman 1st Class Alayna Carboni, 81st TRW paralegal, review documents during a summary court martial Feb. 8, 2013, at the Levitow Training Support Facility, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Mobile summary courts martial set an example for new Airmen about consequences of their actions by quickly imposing good order and discipline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Mobile summary courts martial set examples

Lt. Col. Paul Griffin, 336th Training Squadron commander, serves as the summary court officer during a summary court martial Feb. 8, 2013, at the Levitow Training Support Facility, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Mobile summary courts martial set an example for new Airmen about consequences of their actions by quickly imposing good order and discipline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Students learn from mobile courts martial

Published Feb. 12, 2013
By Senior Airman Heather Heiney
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- There was standing room only in the fishbowl at the Levitow Training Support Facility during a mobile summary court martial Feb. 8.

Making summary courts martial mobile and accessible to a large audience of new Airmen, is a way to teach them early in their careers that committing crimes is not tolerated by the Air Force.

"Airmen need to understand the impact of the decisions they make on their careers and future," Col. Maureen Smith, 81st Training Group commander said. "By having the courts martial here they understand and can make better decisions."

Tech. Sgt. Tina Hall, 81st Training Wing legal office, said that the legal office holds mobile summary courts martial either when there is a scheduling conflict with the courtroom at the Sablich Center, or when there is a negative trend in behavior that needs to be changed.
The idea is that students who attend the court martial will see one of their peers being held accountable for breaking lawful orders and will keep themselves and each other from making the same mistakes.

An Airman 1st Class in the 334th Training Squadron was on trial for using excessive amounts of cough medicine to get high, underage drinking and punching another Airman in the face. He pled guilty to all charges and the trial moved immediately into sentencing. He was charged with 25 days confinement, forfeiture of $1,010 and reduction in rank to airman basic, which is nearly the maximum sentence for those offenses in a summary court martial.

Capt. Craig Dunham, 81st Training Wing assistant judge advocate, was the trial prosecutor. During his closing arguments, he said, "Good order and discipline are the lifeblood of military readiness, and sentencing is the lifeblood of discipline. The sentence is a message the Air Force sends to its members and the public about how seriously we take these particular offenses."

"The Air Force puts walls around its bases. We have armed guards checking each of the gates and only people with the proper identification can enter the base because it wants its Airmen to know they are safe within these gates," Dunham said. "So it is especially aggravating when our own troops, those trusted with access to the base, are the ones bringing harm onto the base.

"It is not enough that a military member refrains from doing bad things. Our success, our very existence, depends on military members affirmatively doing the right things, like following rules," Dunham said. "We need to send a very strong message to the troops that willful, knowing, serious failures to uphold this bedrock military requirement are intolerable and will be treated severely. We need to send a strong, clear message today that we will not tolerate conduct like this from an Air Force member. We need to deter other Air Force members from making the same terrible choices this accused made."

The Uniform Code of Military Justice is something all members of the Air Force or any other branch of the armed forces are required to follow at all times whether they are on or off duty, in or out of uniform.