A General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand is commonly known as a GOMOR. It is a letter of reprimand or a written document from a general officer given to a soldier for a misconduct. A GOMOR is unique to the Army, but each branch of service has a functional equivalent. It can document any variety of misconduct, from something as simple as DUI up to and include rape. A GOMOR is given to an enlisted member or a commissioned officer by a general officer in that soldier’s chain of command.
Is A GOMOR Issued For Civilian Offenses Or Criminal Convictions And Charges?
A GOMOR can be written for an enlisted member or an officer for any type of misconduct. That includes civilian offenses, like driving while under the influence of alcohol or a disturbance in the civilian community. Civilian courts retain jurisdiction to criminally prosecute a case. The GOMOR can simply be written for allegations of misconduct that the military is not going to be taking to trial. Anything that the military doesn’t want to take to trial and doesn’t want to have involve non-judicial punishment could result in a GOMOR, or a letter of reprimand.
What Information Regarding The Alleged Charge Will Be Actually In The GOMOR Letter?
The letter will come from a senior officer within that individual’s chain of command. Generally included is the description of what is being alleged against you and supporting documents. Those supporting documents should be provided to you and to your attorney, if you have one. Supporting documents might include a civilian police report or a report of investigation from a military law enforcement entity. A supporting document is just evidence supporting the letter of reprimand or GOMOR.
What Happens When You Get A GOMOR?
You will be served a GOMOR by the General officer themselves, a member of the chain of command, or by the legal staff for the General. Ordinarily, you will be served in a formal fashion, often having to report in to the commander in order to receive the document. You have a number of days to respond, sometimes as little as 3 days, but often longer for good cause. You are given the option to simply accept the GOMOR without responding or to actually submit a response in writing. We would strongly encourage you to submit a response so that your response can be considered by the authority issuing the letter. In many of our cases we are able to successfully defend against the GOMOR resulting in the GOMOR being rescinded.
Do I Need To Respond To The GOMOR Letter?
It is not required that you respond to a GOMOR but it is extremely important for you and your career that you do so. If you just have a GOMOR in your record with no response, it is assumed that everything in the GOMOR is true and that you deserve that particular punishment for the allegations in the letter. The worst thing you can do is just not respond, because then the record is only what the GOMOR says.
What Happens After The Service Member Responds With A Rebuttal?
The authority that has issued the GOMOR to you is going to review all of the materials. They should have already reviewed the supporting documents that they gave you before they issued the GOMOR, or letter of reprimand. After you submit your response, that authority should read it thoroughly, ask for any follow-up that he or she might require of the legal staff, and then determine whether the GOMOR should stand. There is a requirement that if a GOMOR is going to be issued and remain, the commander has to believe that a preponderance of the evidence supports the idea that you committed the misconduct alleged.
Who Makes The Final Decision And What Are Potential Outcomes Stemming From A GOMOR?
The person who issues the GOMOR is the one who makes the decision as to whether it should stand. After receiving your rebuttal, that person will review all of the materials that you’ve provided and then determine whether or not the GOMOR should stand. After that, there are some serious consequences that could stem from this. For instance, you could be denied promotion or the opportunity to reenlist, or you could be separated from the service as an enlisted member or as an officer. A GOMOR is sometimes looked at by promotion boards and would have an impact on your ability to move up and succeed in your career. In some situations, a GOMOR is the written documentation of misconduct that command then uses to justify administrative separation, also known as a discharge, generally with a less than honorable characterization.
What Difference Does It Make To The Service Member If The Commanding Officer Files The Reprimand Locally Versus Being Filed In A Soldier’s OMPF?
If a GOMOR is filed locally, it is kept within your command. If it is filed within your OMPF, it is going to go to Human Resources Command and be filed in your permanent record. A locally filed GOMOR is going to be destroyed after three years or upon a change of unit or places of assignment. If you are looking at a promotion board while in that three-year window, your locally filed GOMOR won’t be seen by the promotion board. If it is filed within your OMPF, it can be viewed by promotion boards to determine whether you should promote to the next rank.
The GOMOR in your permanent record is going to remain in your permanent service record for the duration of your career unless it is appealed or removed. There is a process that you can go through to try to get a GOMOR appealed or removed from your file, but it is a separate process which oftentimes does not really have much success until some time has passed.
Can You Reenlist After Having A GOMOR?
If your GOMOR is locally filed, you may be able to reenlist. If it is centrally filed within your OMPF, you are going to have a much more difficult time reenlisting.
Can A Civilian Attorney Help Me With A GOMOR? What Can You Do To Help Clients Who Are Going Through This Process?
We see clients often who are receiving letters of reprimand from a variety of different services or a GOMOR from an Army service perspective. We have the client write a comprehensive response to the GOMOR, which highlights different parts of their career and explains the mitigating or extenuating circumstances that might have led to the GOMOR. We work hand-in-hand with the client to craft that response into a persuasive document.
We also work with our clients to contact members of the community who can speak positively on their behalf and collect character letters to submit with the GOMOR response. We look through the supporting documentation and write a legal memorandum which backs up the rebuttal from the service member. We have seen that this legal memorandum, coupled with strong character letters, leads to positive results, including having the GOMOR locally filed or even having it thrown out entirely.
