Discussion
There appears to be a lot going on here, so let’s try and take it in stages. The event happened two months ago and no counseling was done. Now the counseling is being conducted (backdating the counseling statement) but they have the current date in the signature block.
ATP 6.22-1 paragraph 2-30 states: “counseling should be conduct as close to the event as possible.”
Questions to Consider
- Was it possible for the NCO to counsel you sooner?
- If so why did he wait until now?
- Was there a trigger event that caused the NCO to start this paperwork? If so what was it?
- Was the NCO directed to write the counseling?
- If so, by who and why?
The answers to these questions are important.
The Assessment Block
Assessment Block must be completed for an counseling statement to be considered complete. If this block is not complete the document is not complete and the defense can sometimes successfully argue this point.
