Military Insights

Analysis and practical guides on military.

4 articles, checklists, and guides on military law, written by the attorneys at MC Law. Every piece is general information, not legal advice — for a specific matter, contact the firm.

MilitaryMilitary Law

Servicemember Rights and Military Justice Checklist: A Practical Checklist

This checklist runs the legal problems servicemembers actually encounter, in both systems. It covers what to do the moment an investigator appears, the Article 15 decision and its appeal, court-martial and administrative separation preparation, security clearance responses, each Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protection and the written notice that activates it, USERRA notice and return deadlines with the escalator principle, discharge upgrade and records correction applications, the deployment document package, and the transition sequence that determines VA outcomes for decades.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 4, 20267 min read

MilitaryMilitary Law

Military Legal Toolkit: UCMJ Defense, SCRA Protections, and USERRA Claims

This toolkit collects the working documents of a servicemember legal matter: the rights invocation script and defense counsel request, an Article 15 mitigation statement and appeal, a separation board packet index with a character letter request, a security clearance response outline, SCRA letters for the interest cap, stays, lease termination, and unlawful repossession, a default judgment reopening outline, USERRA notice and return letters with a Department of Labor complaint outline, discharge upgrade and records correction application outlines, a medical documentation list, a DD-214 review checklist, and the deployment document package.

Casey Scott McKayFebruary 25, 202612 min read

MilitaryMilitary Law

Navigating Military Justice and Servicemember Rights: A Practical Guide

This guide is the sequence for a servicemember facing a legal problem, in either system. It covers what to say and not say when an investigator appears, how to decide between an Article 15 and a court-martial, how to prepare for an administrative separation board that ends more careers than courts-martial do, how to invoke each Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protection in writing, how to assert USERRA reemployment rights and where to file, how to build a discharge upgrade or records correction application, and the transition checklist that determines VA outcomes for decades.

Casey Scott McKayFebruary 18, 202628 min read

MilitaryMilitary Law

Military Legal Issues: The UCMJ, Servicemember Protections, and Employment Rights

Servicemembers live under two legal systems at once, and the interaction produces problems no civilian encounters. This article explains the Uniform Code of Military Justice from nonjudicial punishment through the three levels of court-martial and appellate review, the constitutional cases defining military jurisdiction and the limits on servicemember speech, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections against default judgments, high interest rates, evictions, and lease obligations, the USERRA reemployment and antidiscrimination framework including the escalator principle and the imputed-bias theory, and the administrative routes to a discharge upgrade or a correction of military records.

Casey Scott McKayFebruary 11, 202628 min read