Actually, in this case it was.

The individual was drunk, and causing a scene in a club back in Okinawa in 1990. The bar owners were about to call the Japanese Police, which is something nobody wants. This often results in the unit being "locked down" to base, and the JPs tend to enter swinging their clubs at anybody in the place.

The Lieutenant was one of the coolest I knew, and he convinced the bar owner to let him take the guy and go. But he did not want to go, and replied (paraphrased) "Fornicate you, SIR!", and attacked him.

At that point 3 other Marines tackled him and drug him back to base before the MPs or JPs got there. And on Monday morning he was getting the formal charges read to him.

If I remember right, he got a Battalion Grade Article 15. Reduced from Lance Corporal to Private, forfiture of 1/2 month pay for 2 months, and 60 days confinement to the barracks.

As for the guy that did the robbery, he is still in a hurt locker. Convicted of that crime, he was released to the Army, where he did several more crimes before finally being discharged. Last I heard he was sent back to California where he was facing trial for indecent exposure, drug possession, and resisting arrest.

Local Soldier Arrested In New Mexico - Bakersfield News Story - KERO Bakersfield