All very depressing, really. Reading that list of CM cases above there's a bit of a pattern among the offenders, some of whom would probably be lauded by their pals in their parachute regiment, but many who seem to be a bit too overloaded with the biological products of their balls. The older types go for the money (although the hormones are still there). There but for the grace...
I was zapped with a Regimental Entry at Corporal, for climbing over the back fence at Ripon Bks, Bielefeld, and gently - and with care - making contact with the Cpl of the Guard's mug (10 Regt RCT; what did they expect?) when apprehended, but still managed to advance a bit in rank over the next few years; if I'd been a Sgt I suspect that my career would have come to a halt there, and if any further up the scale would certainly been up before the Beak. My OC was understanding, however, and the punitive award was mostly for getting his team lost on the Company orienteering competition in the week before.
My only other relevant knowledge of the process comes from the experience of a Grenadier WO2, 'Sandy', who was at the time a very well respected, and highly capable, controller of operations out of Bessbrook, who rose to Major and was sent out to take charge of an ACF region, where he fell to using the funds entrusted to him for repaying his gambling debts. Jailed, and his former comrades spoke no more of him; a terrible shame, because he was a genuinely, innately good and decent man. He died relatively young.
Most of these instances are tragedies. The people who try to cheat the system for the sake of their childrens' education are the most tragic of all, unless they've failed to manage their lives sufficiently to do so legitimately.
