Marine Boards of Inquiry

September 20, 2019

Marine boards of inquiry are governed by Marine Corps Order (MCO) 1900.16 and SECNAVINST 1920.6D. The following article is meant as a general overview for active duty officers. There are many complexities to the process, including if you are a reservist, that requires a more thorough review of an officer’s specific case and consultation with a military lawyer familiar with the above listed references.

Marine Boards of Inquiry: Process

The Marine and Navy officer elimination process are almost identical. Click here to read Attorney Barry's overview of the Naval Officer Elimination Process. There are a couple of differences listed here:

-The Marine officer Show Cause Authority is the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Show Cause authority may also be delegated within the Marine Corps to Generals and Lieutenant Generals in Command.

-All suspected officer misconduct must be reported to the Commandant of the Marine Corps instead of the Chief of Naval Personnel.

With some minor exceptions, all other procedures between Naval Officer Separations and Marine Officer Separations are the same.

Marine Officers undergoing elimination proceedings are fighting for their careers. Marine Officers will be appointed a military JAG to represent them. The quality of these JAGs varies greatly. Furthermore, they are generally very inexperienced. Some of these JAGs don't even want to be in their assigned positions and are afraid to represent their clients with too much zeal.

This Article was written by Attorney Matthew Barry

The Law Office of Matthew Barry represents clients worldwide. He has offices on the East Coast, West Coast, and in the Central U.S.