The Coast Guard just released the Good Order and Discipline (GOAD) Report covering the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. You can read this and previous GOADs here.
Key take aways
Last quarter (FY24, Q4) we identified three main commonalities in the GOAD. This quarter, just one: alcohol. Alcohol-related misconduct makes up a good chunk of this GOAD. Overall, in the first quarter of 2025, there were 12 cited situations involving alcohol. And eight of those were DUIs.
While readers service-wide eagerly click on the GOAD report with a feeling of nervous excitement to see what kind of trouble is going on out there across the fleet, we also never want to be in the GOAD ourselves. No one wants to be that guy. The fact is, there are ‘good’ people in the GOAD every quarter, people who, like us, never imagined they would be in the GOAD and certainly never wanted to be. There are a lot of ‘good’ people, successful people, who do stupid things when they drink. Don’t be one of those. If you have concerns about your own relationship with alcohol, there are resources to get help now – before you earn a spot in the GOAD.
First, you can privately check your drinking habits with Own Your Limits, a designated campaign to help all service members drink responsibly, if they chose to drink. This five-minute self-assessment is confidential and can be done from anywhere.
If you determine, through the Own Your Limits survey or general self-awareness, that you could use some help, you can self-refer for medical screening and, if warranted, treatment. To self-refer, reach out to your Command Drug and Alcohol Representative (CDAR), Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist, Chaplain, clinic, or command. Self-referrals for alcohol are not punitive and do not go in your military personnel file—just your medical record.
Your command, concerned for your health and safety, may initiate a command-referral for you to get screened. They may notice an unexplained change in your behavior or performance or hear something through the grapevine that gives them pause. This command-referral is also non-punitive and documented in your medical record only. And, like the self-referral, a command referral is geared toward getting you help before you do something worthy of a GOAD entry.
All three types of alcohol referrals (self, command, and incident referrals) are medical in nature. You’re not going into an interrogation room for the screening. The clinic may have similarly poor lighting, but you’ll be screened by a Medical Officer to discuss your relationship with alcohol. Screening is the gateway to intervention in the progression of alcohol abuse leading to a disorder. If needed, the Medical Officer will provide you a treatment plan because, again, the goal is to help you.
The average national cost of a DUI, provided there are no injuries, is $10,000. You have alternatives.
Beyond the above key takeaways, the GOAD Report lists other disciplinary actions taken across the fleet for a variety of offenses. Five enlisted members went to courts-martial – all of whom pled guilty. Links to their court records are in the GOAD Report posted here. Two commissioned officers were masted. Three enlisted members were relieved for cause. Three senior enlisted (E7-E9) members were masted – all for alcohol-related misconduct. Another 50 enlisted members went to mast – 35 of whom were reduced in paygrade. Forty-six enlisted members were administratively separated for involvement with drugs (15), a pattern of misconduct (5), or commission of a serious offense (COSO, 26). On the civilian side, 10 employees were reprimanded, one was suspended, and two civilian employees were terminated in connection with disciplinary issues.
Stay tuned for the GOAD for the second and third quarters of 2025, which will be combined in the next report.
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