In military contexts, a formal letter of reprimand can be career-ending,[1] even without prescribed punishments, because it makes it difficult to secure advancements in rank or to enjoy the respect of one's peers.
[citation needed] In July 1945, after delivering the Little Boy atomic bomb to Tinian, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the Philippine Sea.
In the aftermath of the disaster, some US naval officers in Leyte, Philippines, were given letters of reprimand, because they failed to note that the ship was missing.
[2][3] Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt was reprimanded for the Tarnak Farm incident, in which on April 17, 2002, he dropped a 500-pound bomb on Canadian soldiers near Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing four and injuring eight others.
On September 25, 2008, the Department of Defense announced that six US Air Force and two US Army generals and nine colonels had received letters of reprimand, admonishment, or concern because of the mishandling of fuses for nuclear weapons, which were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan.