A Navy captain in the medical service corps pleaded guilty at a court-martial earlier this year to conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman for trying to obstruct the duties of a master-at-arms.
But before his May plea deal, Capt. Paul C. Miller faced other charges, including assault, linked to a series of incidents last year, according to charge sheets.
On Aug. 20, 2017, Miller was accused of grabbing a master-at-arms 3rd class and placing the sailor in a choke hold, triggering the assault charge, according to the legal filings.
The sole conduct unbecoming charge arose on the same day, when authorities accused Miller of being “disorderly in the presence of medical personnel” as the 3rd class attempted to perform his duties.
Miller, 52, also faced a general article charge from Aug. 11, 2017, when his charge sheets alleged that the “overindulgence of intoxicating liquor incapacitated” him and prevented him from performing his duties.
As part of his special court-martial plea, a judge sentenced him to a reprimand, the loss of $14,088 in pay and 60 days of unspecified restriction, according to the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
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The plea deal indicated that Miller would not contest an appearance before a Navy administrative separation board, according to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Miller records released to Navy Times showed that he appears to still be attached to Naval Medical Center San Diego.
Miller’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment sent through Navy officials in San Diego.
Attempts by Navy Times to reach Miller by telephone, email and through officials at a higher level of command were not successful.
Commissioned in 1994, the New Jersey native pinned on captain 20 years later.
Miller faced several other charges that were dismissed earlier this year at the direction of the convening authority in his case, Navy Region Southwest commander Rear Adm. Yancy B. Lindsay.
They included attempting to drive while drunk and impaired and for allegedly being absent from his unit in August 2017, as well as for missing a movement in February 2017 while stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, according to charge sheets.
Other charges dismissed against Miller pertained to him allegedly being drunk on duty in August 2017 and resisting apprehension by a master-at-arms that same month, charge sheets show.
A command biography updated in mid-2016 indicated that Miller served as the chief information officer at Naval Medical Center San Diego between 2012 and 2014.
During that tour, he completed the University of California San Diego’s Drug and Alcohol Counselor School and volunteered to counsel homeless veterans with substance abuse and mental illness, including service members who recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
His decorations include two Meritorious Service Medals, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and the Navy and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
