A prior-enlisted Army captain with more than a decade in uniform pulled a subordinate second lieutenant from the driver’s seat of a van, left him on the side of the road and drove away during a November 2025 incident near Fort Lee, Virginia.
Capt. Cody D. Herr later admitted he was operating the vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of at least .08.
He walked out of his special court-martial with two convictions — and no punishment.
Herr pleaded guilty to drunken operation of a vehicle and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. Military judge Lt. Col. Carrie L. Ward found him guilty of both offenses on July 17, 2026.
The incident happened on or about Nov. 17, 2025, and involved a second lieutenant specifically identified in court records as Herr’s subordinate.
According to the charges, the 2LT was sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle when Herr confronted him. Prosecutors alleged Herr struck the driver’s side of the vehicle with his hand and foot, grabbed the lieutenant and eventually physically removed him from the driver’s seat.
Herr then drove away, leaving the junior officer on the side of the road.
That portion of the incident became the basis for Herr’s conduct-unbecoming conviction. The final specification states that Herr physically removed his subordinate from the driver’s seat, left the 2LT roadside and drove away. Herr pleaded guilty.
Court records also show Herr was driving a white Ford Transit van while his blood-alcohol concentration equaled or exceeded .08 grams per 100 milliliters of blood, as shown through chemical analysis.
He pleaded guilty to that offense as well.
Prosecutors initially accused Herr of more.
He faced allegations of maltreating the subordinate, assaulting him and leaving the scene of a vehicle accident without making his identity known. The leaving-the-scene charge specifically alleged Herr was the driver when the vehicle was involved in an accident.
The records, however, do not explain exactly when the accident occurred in relation to Herr removing the 2LT from the driver’s seat, what the vehicle struck or how badly it was damaged.
Those additional maltreatment, assault and leaving-the-scene allegations were ultimately dismissed as part of the resolution of the case. They were not findings of not guilty.
Herr’s background makes the case stand out.
Research by The Salty Soldier indicates Herr joined the Army around 2012 and spent years on the enlisted side before commissioning. He had reached sergeant by 2017 and later advanced to staff sergeant before becoming an officer.
A May 13, 2020, post from University of Delaware Army ROTC provides a clearer timeline for Herr’s move from the enlisted ranks to the officer corps.
The post identified Herr as a Salisbury University senior participating in Army ROTC through the University of Delaware partnership program and said he was scheduled to commission later that month as a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps.
By October 2023, Herr was a first lieutenant.
An Army public affairs photograph from an Oct. 25, 2023, promotion ceremony at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, shows Herr alongside Sgt. Maj. MacArthur D. Ocampo, whom the Army caption described as Herr’s former first sergeant.
Herr praised Ocampo’s approach to leadership in the accompanying Army feature.
“The value of the relationships made through service cannot be under-valued,” Herr said. “When he gives you his 100 percent, you feel it. I would follow him anywhere.”
By the time of the Fort Lee incident two years later, Herr had risen to captain.
That put him at roughly 13 years of Army service, with experience as an enlisted Soldier, NCO and commissioned officer when the confrontation with his subordinate occurred.
But perhaps the most striking part of the case came at sentencing.
Herr received none.
His plea agreement allowed the military judge to adjudge a reprimand but prohibited any other punishment. Ward chose not to impose even the reprimand.
The Statement of Trial Results lists no dismissal from the Army, no confinement, no forfeiture of pay, no fine, no reprimand, no restriction and no other punishment. It also records zero days of pretrial confinement.
And Herr’s story did not end with the court-martial.
Less than three weeks after Herr’s conviction, U.S. Army Fort Lee publicly recognized him alongside several other Soldiers. In an Aug. 5 Facebook post, the installation announced that Garrison Commander Col. Stacy L. King and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Melisha K. Wilson had presented the group with Coins of Excellence.
Fort Lee said the Soldiers were recognized for their “exceptional dedication and contributions to the mission” and congratulated them for their “commitment to excellence and continued service to Fort Lee.”
The available information does not establish whether King or Wilson knew the details of Herr’s court-martial when the coin was approved or presented, nor does the post explain what specific work Herr was being recognized for.
But the timing is notable.
By then, Herr had already pleaded guilty and been convicted of drunken operation of a vehicle and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman.
So the final result of a night that began with a confrontation between a captain and his subordinate, included Herr taking control of a vehicle while legally intoxicated and ended in a court-martial was already unusual:
Two guilty findings.
No punishment.
Then, after his conviction, Fort Lee publicly recognized him for excellence.
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