“Today I am directing the Office of General Counsel to prepare legislation for Congress to amend Article 60 [by] eliminating the discretion for a convening authority to change the findings of a court-martial, except for certain minor offenses that would not ordinarily warrant trial by court-martial.”
— Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday, in a statement saying he will push to end senior officers’ ability to overrule court-martial decisions. He launched a review into such powers after an Air Force general last month overturned a court-martial ruling that an Air Force lieutenant colonel (and fellow pilot) had not sexually assaulted a woman in his house at Italy’s Aviano air base last year, after a court martial found him guilty as charged and sent him to the brig for a year.
