Lesson 06 of 16 Phase 1: The military system
Essential Military Terminology: The Legal and Administrative Terms on Military Paperwork
In this lesson: 7 sections
Military legal paperwork draws its vocabulary from the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the Manual for Courts-Martial, service regulations, and veterans’ benefits law. This glossary defines those terms in the order a reader meets them: an investigation, nonjudicial punishment, a court-martial, an administrative action or separation, and the records afterward. Each entry names the rule it comes from and, where one exists, the page that explains what to do.
Sources checked: September 26, 2026
Six pairs that get confused
| Pair | The difference |
|---|---|
| Rank and grade | Grade is the step on the pay and office scale (E-4, O-3); rank is the order of precedence among members |
| Legal assistance and defense counsel | Legal assistance handles personal civil legal affairs; Fort Bragg's office, for example, lists military justice matters as outside its scope. Defense counsel represent members in military justice and adverse actions; the Air Force list includes "courts-martial and Article 15s" and "administrative discharges and demotions" |
| Nonjudicial punishment and court-martial | NJP is a commander's punishment for minor offenses without a trial; a court-martial is a criminal trial |
| Trial counsel and defense counsel | Trial counsel prosecute for the United States; defense counsel represent the accused |
| Discharge Review Board and Board for Correction | A DRB reviews discharge characterization within 15 years; a BCMR or BCNR corrects any record error, generally within three years of discovery |
| Characterization of service and VA character of discharge | The service sets the first; VA makes its own determination for benefits, which does not change the military record |
Sources for the table: 10 U.S.C. 101, 10 U.S.C. 1044, Fort Bragg Legal Assistance Office, <a href="https://www.afjag.af.mil/Portals/77/documents/JAJD/ADCInfo.pdf?ver=2020-02-19-155834-377″>Air Force Area Defense Counsel, 10 U.S.C. 815, RCM 502, 10 U.S.C. 1553, 10 U.S.C. 1552, <a href="https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/characterofdischarge.asp”>VBA, character of discharge.
The federal definitions behind the first row: grade is “a step or degree, in a graduated scale of office or military rank,” and rank is “the order of precedence among members of the armed forces” (10 U.S.C. 101). How to address someone by rank is covered in ranks, titles, and forms of address.
Terms from an investigation
Article 31(b) rights. The military’s warning before questioning a suspect. It requires telling the person the nature of the accusation, that they do not have to make a statement, and that a statement may be used against them at court-martial (10 U.S.C. 831). What this means before a first meeting with a lawyer is explained in the Article 31 section of the consultation checklist.
Preferral. The formal start of a court-martial case. Charges “shall be preferred by presentment in writing, signed under oath before a commissioned officer of the armed forces who is authorized to administer oaths,” and the accused must be informed of them (10 U.S.C. 830). The form is the DD Form 458, titled “CHARGE SHEET” (DD Form 458).
Special Victims’ Counsel. A military lawyer designated by law to represent the victim of an alleged sex-related offense, “regardless of whether the report of that offense is restricted or unrestricted” (10 U.S.C. 1044e).
Terms from nonjudicial punishment
Article 15, NJP, mast, office hours. One procedure, several names. “In the Army and the Air Force, NJP is referred to as Article 15”; the Marine Corps calls it “Office Hours”; and “The Navy and the Coast Guard call NJP captain’s mast or admiral’s mast, depending on the rank of the commanding officer” (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-judicialpunishment”>Wikipedia, Non-judicial punishment). The legal authority is Article 15 of the UCMJ, which lets “any commanding officer” impose it (10 U.S.C. 815).
Demanding trial by court-martial. Refusing NJP by demanding a court-martial instead. Once a member makes that demand, the statute says NJP “may not be imposed”; it does not itself require a court-martial to follow. The right does not apply to a member “attached to or embarked in a vessel” (10 U.S.C. 815). The decision itself is walked through in how the NJP choice works.
Spokesperson. A person who accompanies the member at the NJP hearing. The Army fact sheet describes the right to “have a non-lawyer act as your spokesman” (<a href="https://home.army.mil/rucker/8315/4533/6193/Article15FactSheet.pdf”>Fort Rucker); the Navy’s defense office lists the right “to be accompanied by a spokesperson” (Navy Defense Service Office FAQ).
NJP appeal. A member who considers the punishment “unjust or disproportionate to the offense may, through the proper channel, appeal to the next superior authority” (10 U.S.C. 815).
Terms from a court-martial
Summary, special, and general court-martial. “The three kinds of courts-martial in each of the armed forces” (10 U.S.C. 816). A summary court-martial “consists of one commissioned officer,” cannot try officers, and cannot proceed over the accused’s objection (10 U.S.C. 820). A special court-martial has a military judge and four members, or a judge alone; a general court-martial has a judge and eight members, a judge alone on the accused’s request, or, in a capital case, the number of members another section of the statute sets.
Convening authority. The commander with the power to convene, that is, to create, a court-martial. The Article 32 statute uses the term, and who may convene each kind is set by statute (10 U.S.C. 822, 10 U.S.C. 823). For covered offenses, a special trial counsel’s decision to refer charges “shall be binding on any applicable convening authority” (10 U.S.C. 824a).
Special trial counsel. Independent military prosecutors who, for serious “covered offenses” committed on or after December 28, 2023, decide whether charges go to trial. How this changes who decides is explained in the special trial counsel section of the authority guide.
Article 32 preliminary hearing. Required before a case goes to a general court-martial unless the accused waives it in writing and the convening authority (or, for covered offenses, the special trial counsel) agrees; “a preliminary hearing need not be held if the accused submits a written waiver” and that official determines a hearing is not required. It looks at whether the charge states an offense, whether there is “probable cause to believe that the accused committed the offense charged,” whether “the convening authority has court-martial jurisdiction,” and makes “A recommendation as to the disposition that should be made of the case” (10 U.S.C. 832).
Trial counsel, defense counsel. The prosecutor and the accused’s lawyer. “Trial counsel shall prosecute cases on behalf of the United States” (RCM 502). Defense counsel come from the service’s defense organization: Trial Defense Service in the Army (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UnitedStatesArmyTrialDefenseService”>Wikipedia, TDS), Defense Service Offices in the Navy (Navy DSO) and Marine Corps (Marine Corps DSO), Area Defense Counsel in the Air Force (<a href="https://www.afjag.af.mil/Portals/77/documents/JAJD/ADCInfo.pdf?ver=2020-02-19-155834-377″>Air Force ADC).
Punitive discharges. Discharges only a court-martial can adjudge. A bad-conduct discharge “applies only to enlisted persons”; a dishonorable discharge “may be adjudged only by a general court-martial”; and “Dismissal applies only to commissioned officers, commissioned warrant officers, cadets, and midshipmen” (RCM 1003).
Terms from administrative actions and separation
Memorandum of reprimand (GOMOR). A written reprimand. When a general officer issues one, service members may hear it called a GOMOR; the governing Army regulation, AR 600-37, does not use that abbreviation. It allows a memorandum to be filed in the permanent record “upon the order of a GO” (<a href="https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DRpubs/DRa/ARN30763-AR600-37-000-WEB-1.pdf”>AR 600-37). The response window is on the rebuttal deadline list.
Administrative separation, separation board. Ending service without a court-martial. In the Army, a soldier has the right to an administrative discharge board if facing an Other Than Honorable characterization “or if you have over 6 years of service in the military” (<a href="https://home.army.mil/rucker/5015/4533/6192/AdministrativeSeparationsFactSheet.pdf”>Fort Rucker fact sheet). The Marine Corps defense office names “boards of inquiry, and administrative separation boards” among its cases (Marine Corps DSO).
Characterization of service. The label on an administrative discharge: Honorable, General (under honorable conditions), or Other Than Honorable. VA benefits generally require service “under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general)” (<a href="https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/characterofdischarge.asp”>VBA); what each one costs and how to change it is covered in the characterization and benefits guide.
Article 138 complaint. A complaint by a member “wronged by his commanding officer” who asked that commander for redress and was refused. It goes through a superior officer to the officer “exercising general court-martial jurisdiction” over the commander (10 U.S.C. 938).
Legal assistance. No-fee help with personal civil legal matters, which the law lets the services provide “Subject to the availability of legal staff resources” to eligible people, including “Members of the armed forces who are on active duty” and “Members and former members entitled to retired or retainer pay” (10 U.S.C. 1044). It is a different office from defense counsel.
Terms from records and benefits
DD-214. The certificate of release or discharge. It comes in more than one copy; DoD’s instruction distinguishes a “Member Copy” from a “Service Copy” (DoDI 1336.01).
DRB and BCMR (BCNR in the Navy and Marine Corps). The two review boards. The Discharge Review Board reviews a discharge, other than one by general court-martial, on a request made “within 15 years after the date of the discharge or dismissal” (10 U.S.C. 1553). The Board for Correction of Military (or Naval) Records corrects errors and injustices, with a three-year window after discovery that the board may excuse “in the interest of justice” (10 U.S.C. 1552).
Character of discharge (VA). VA’s own determination for benefits. VA states that it “does not change the Armed Forces’ characterization of service and has no effect on the former Service member’s military discharge status” (<a href="https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/characterofdischarge.asp”>VBA).
Older terms still found in files
FOUO (For Official Use Only). A marking DoD has replaced: “On 6 March 2020, the DoD replaced DoDM 5200.01 Volume 4 with DoDM 5200.48,” the manual on Controlled Unclassified Information, or CUI (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ForOfficialUseOnly”>Wikipedia, FOUO). Older records may still carry the FOUO marking.
MACOM. Major Army Command. A 2007 Army announcement said “The restructuring eliminates the Major Army Command” (<a href="https://www.army.mil/article/5472/armyfinalizescommand_realignment”>army.mil).
When a document uses a term not listed here, look for the article or regulation number printed next to it; that number leads to the rule itself, and where the official texts are published shows where to read it. This glossary defines terms in general; the service regulation named on your document governs your case.