A longtime Army recruiter who served at recruiting stations across Michigan and eventually became a station chief was scheduled to face trial by special court-martial at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
The Army’s public court docket identifies the accused as Sgt. 1st Class Michael V. Roberts, whom publicly available records identify as the station chief of the Bay City, Michigan, recruiting station.
The docket listed his Sept. 22 arraignment and trial as a guilty-plea proceeding before a military judge.
This was not an Article 15 handled within Roberts’ local chain of command. Although he was assigned in Michigan, his arraignment and trial were held at Fort Knox, home of U.S. Army Recruiting Command headquarters. A special court-martial is a criminal proceeding under military law.
Roberts faced charges under Articles 92, 93 and 107 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Article 92 covers disobeying an order or failing to properly perform assigned duties.
Article 93 covers cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of someone under the accused’s authority.
Article 107 covers knowingly making a false official statement with the intent to deceive.
The public docket does not disclose what Roberts allegedly did, how many individual allegations he faced or who was allegedly maltreated. It also does not say whether the person was a recruit, an applicant, a subordinate soldier or someone else under his authority.
The guilty-plea notation does not show whether Roberts agreed to plead guilty to every listed charge or whether the military judge accepted his plea. Findings and sentencing information had not been posted as of publication.
Public posts reviewed by The Salty Soldier document an Army career stretching back approximately 18 years. Roberts wrote that he graduated from basic training in 2008 and entered recruiting later in his career.
By 2019, Roberts was serving as a staff sergeant and Army recruiter in Michigan. In a public interview that year, he said he had deployed to Afghanistan and that his service had also taken him to Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Roberts said those missions included training with foreign militaries and participating in humanitarian aid.
Posts from the years preceding his promotion to sergeant first class place Roberts at the Army recruiting station in Auburn Hills.
After his promotion, posts and his public profile identified him as the station chief of the Bay City Army and Army Reserve recruiting station.
The Army has yet to publicly release the specific allegations underlying the charges or identify which charges Roberts pleaded guilty to, if any. The Salty Soldier will follow up and provide more information as it becomes available.
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