Skip to main content
HonestMOS
●InvestigationsCongress made VA disability claims free to file. An entire industry charges veterans anyway — and nobody can stop them.→
Honest MOS

Big Chicken Dinner

Real troop slang for a Bad Conduct Discharge — and the name for this: one real UCMJ court-martial case a week, told straight, sourced to the record. Every case here really happened. Nothing is invented, nothing is embellished, and nobody who died or was seriously hurt ends up as a punchline.

This Week’s Case
Court-Martial of Pfc. James Andrew GonzalezPleaded guilty; 3 years confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduced to E-1, total forfeitures

He Went AWOL to Mexico, Then Faked His Own Cartel Kidnapping to Explain Why He Wasn’t Coming Back

Pfc. James Gonzalez took a three-day pass from Fort Hood for a court date near Corpus Christi — and never came back. Instead, he texted a fellow soldier posing as a cartel kidnapper, demanding $100,000 and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the border — triggering a real multi-agency manhunt for a hostage who didn't exist.

Read the case →
The Docket
Air ForceCourt-Martial of Capt. Rhonda McDaniel

The Officer Who Got Caught in the Same Promotion-Exam Cheating Ring — After She’d Already Made Officer

Read →
Air ForceCourt-Martial of MSgt Abdur-Rahim Saafir

An Air Force Master Sergeant Ran a Global Promotion-Exam Cheating Ring Out of Germany

Read →
ArmyUnited States v. New

A Soldier Refused to Wear a Blue Beret. It Became a Federal Case, All the Way to the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Read →
ArmyCourt-Martial of Col. Billy Mitchell

The Army Court-Martialed Him for Saying the Military Was Being Run Badly. He Was Right.

Read →
NavyCourt-Martial of Seaman Matthew Cottom

He Wore a Fake Purple Heart at a Church Service and at a College Military Appreciation Day. He’d Never Deployed.

Read →
ArmyCourt-Martial of CSM Perry T. McNeill

A Command Sergeant Major Wore a Ranger Tab for Three Years. He Never Went to Ranger School.

Read →
MarinesUnited States v. Clawson

A Marine Sergeant Major Wore Nine Medals He Never Earned — Including a Fake Purple Heart

Read →
MarinesUnited States v. Sterling

A Marine Taped Three Bible Verses to Her Desk. It Went All the Way to the Supreme Court.

Read →
ArmyCourt-Martial of Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold Got Court-Martialed for Misusing Army Wagons — Then Sold Out West Point Because He Was Still Mad About It

Read →
ArmyUnited States v. Preston

A Soldier Washed Out of Flight School, So He Stole a Helicopter and Landed It on the White House Lawn

Read →
NavyUnited States v. Dickerson

The Navy Court-Martialed a Man for Lip-Syncing Frozen

Read →