Neal McDonough and Dale Dye would later be part of the ensemble cast of Band of Brothers (2001), which is about Easy Company of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Special Operations group during World War II, who played crucial roles in some of the most important battles in the war, including the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge.
Lt. Williams asks Lt. Rabb what charges he could possibly be facing, though he doesn't answer. First he was on duty while drunk, which is conduct unbecoming an officer. Next he failed to mention being drunk before participating in a live-fire exercise, that is dereliction of duty and negligence. Then he personally took target measurements and readings for a live-fire test while being drunk, that could be considered reckless endangerment. Finally if any fatalities resulted from those actions he could be facing a homicide charge, at least criminally negligent homicide, possibly even involuntary manslaughter.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was a Marine Corps officer who commanded a platoon in Vietnam, and later was a special forces operator with Marine Force Recon specializing in jungle warfare and upon promotion to the rank of Major became the operations officer of 3rd Marine Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Div., Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1981, after graduating from the Command and Staff course and being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel he was assigned to the National Security Council under President Regan.
North became well known in 1986 due to the Iran/Contra affair. North was assigned to aid in negotiations with the Contras, a rebel militia force that was attempting to prevent a Communist regime, the Sandinistas, from taking power in Nicaragua. At the same time a group in Iran, an early form of the Taliban, had taken American hostages. North arranged for the hostages to be released in exchange for the U.S. selling the Taliban weapons to use in their fight against the Soviet Union. North then used some of the funds from the weapons sales to help aid the Contras in their fight. Doing both of these things violated a number of both US and international laws, somehow the operation became known to the public, so President Regan fired North claiming that he acted on his own and without authorization, essentially making North the scape-goat. North testified under oath at a Senate hearing that he was acting under orders and that his superiors, including the President, were well aware of the operation and of the details of it; North was granted immunity by the Senate for his testimony, indicating they believed his story to likely be true. During the Senate hearings and trials North became a nation wide sensation, his refusal to take the fall for the failed plan earned him a tremendous amount of nationwide support, along with many detractors who thought he acted on his own as an out-of-control maverick. In the end North was cleared of all charges, whether this was due to his innocence or just a lack of evidence is a matter of speculation.
North became well known in 1986 due to the Iran/Contra affair. North was assigned to aid in negotiations with the Contras, a rebel militia force that was attempting to prevent a Communist regime, the Sandinistas, from taking power in Nicaragua. At the same time a group in Iran, an early form of the Taliban, had taken American hostages. North arranged for the hostages to be released in exchange for the U.S. selling the Taliban weapons to use in their fight against the Soviet Union. North then used some of the funds from the weapons sales to help aid the Contras in their fight. Doing both of these things violated a number of both US and international laws, somehow the operation became known to the public, so President Regan fired North claiming that he acted on his own and without authorization, essentially making North the scape-goat. North testified under oath at a Senate hearing that he was acting under orders and that his superiors, including the President, were well aware of the operation and of the details of it; North was granted immunity by the Senate for his testimony, indicating they believed his story to likely be true. During the Senate hearings and trials North became a nation wide sensation, his refusal to take the fall for the failed plan earned him a tremendous amount of nationwide support, along with many detractors who thought he acted on his own as an out-of-control maverick. In the end North was cleared of all charges, whether this was due to his innocence or just a lack of evidence is a matter of speculation.
Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice gives the commanding officer of a unit the authority to decide the guilt or innocence of someone under their command accused of committing a minor offense that does not require a judicial hearing, and then to decide appropriate punishment. It is more of a legal hearing than a trial, once called an Article 15 hearing will have officers in the chain-of-command speak for the accused, either in their defense or against them. By comparison to the civilian justice system, an Article 15 hearing is akin to a court appearance for a misdemeanor offense where guilt or innocence is decided by a judge, whereas a court martial is for a felony-level offense where guilt or innocence is decided by a jury.