Former Army JAG and Senior Defense Counsel 25+ years defending service members Courts-martial defense worldwide
Reviewed by Michael Waddington, Founding Partner Updated October 8, 2026
Gonzalez & Waddington defends Army and joint-service members at Fort Meade, Maryland — the nation’s premier cyber and intelligence installation — when a UCMJ allegation threatens a career, a clearance, or freedom.
Attorneys Michael Waddington and Alexandra Gonzalez-Waddington are defense lawyers who challenge every charge brought against service members at Fort Meade, traveling to the installation in Odenton, Anne Arundel County, and representing personnel worldwide. CID investigators routinely open cases involving personnel assigned to U.S. Cyber Command, NSA, DISA, and other joint and interagency tenants on post.
Cases at Fort Meade are unlike those at a conventional Army post. Allegations here often involve classified systems, access logs, government devices, and cyber or intelligence workspaces, with evidence held by commands, security offices, contractors, or Anne Arundel County law enforcement. Charges range from Article 120 sexual assault and domestic violence to DUI, drug offenses, fraud, false official statements, and cyber-related misconduct — any of which can trigger a clearance review.
Contact Gonzalez & Waddington at 1-800-921-8607 for a free, confidential consultation.
Fort Meade is one of the most important military intelligence and cyber installations in the United States. It sits in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near Odenton, Severn, Laurel, Columbia, Jessup, Hanover, Annapolis Junction, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., I-95, Route 175, Route 198, and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Fort Meade is not a normal Army post. It is an intelligence, cyber, information operations, communications, and national security installation.
Service members at Fort Meade may face UCMJ investigations that begin on post, off post, inside a secure workspace, during cyber or intelligence duties, in housing, during official travel, or after civilian police contact in Maryland.
Cases may involve:
Gonzalez & Waddington defends service members stationed at Fort Meade in serious UCMJ matters. The firm handles courts-martial, Article 15/NJP actions, GOMOR rebuttals, letters of reprimand, administrative separation boards, Boards of Inquiry, and security clearance matters.
An allegation at Fort Meade can threaten a career quickly. This is especially true for service members in cyber, intelligence, communications, classified, public affairs, law enforcement, headquarters, or clearance-sensitive billets.
Fort Meade is different from a traditional Army installation. It is a joint-service and interagency national security environment. A case may involve classified or sensitive work, digital communications, government systems, access records, contractor witnesses, civilian employees, security offices, and local Maryland police reports.
If you are accused of a UCMJ offense at or near Fort Meade, do not wait for the command’s theory to harden. This includes Article 120 sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, domestic violence, assault, DUI, drug misconduct, fraud, larceny, false official statement, orders violations, harassment, stalking, threats, child exploitation, online misconduct, security violations, and cyber-related allegations.
Call Gonzalez & Waddington at 1-800-921-8607 or text 954-799-4019 to request a confidential consultation with civilian military defense lawyers who defend service members worldwide.
Fort Meade is located in the northwest corner of Anne Arundel County. It is between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The official Fort Meade website describes the installation as the nation’s platform for intelligence, information, and cyber operations. See the Fort Meade Official Website.
This mission matters in a military defense case. Fort Meade cases may involve cyber systems, intelligence work, classified or sensitive information, access logs, government devices, security clearance issues, and digital evidence.
A case may begin as a local police matter. It can still become a UCMJ case. A service member may face Article 15, GOMOR, administrative separation, Board of Inquiry, security clearance review, Article 32 hearing, or court-martial.
Early defense action can help preserve favorable evidence. It can also protect the service member before statements are made to investigators, security personnel, or command representatives.
Fort Meade is a cyber and intelligence installation. Many cases involve digital systems, classified or sensitive work, access controls, or interagency witnesses.
That changes the evidence. A Fort Meade case may involve:
The defense must identify what records exist. It must also determine who controls them. At Fort Meade, key evidence may come from a command, a cyber unit, a security office, a contractor, a local police agency, or a civilian court file.
Fort Meade became an active Army installation in 1917. It was first known as Camp Meade.
The official Fort Meade history page explains that the Maryland site was selected because it was close to rail lines, Baltimore’s port, and Washington, D.C. See the Fort Meade History.
Fort Meade later became a major national security installation. Today, its mission is tied to intelligence, information, cyber operations, and support for major Department of War and intelligence community organizations.
This history matters in a defense case. Fort Meade is a high-trust environment. Commanders may evaluate allegations through the lens of reliability, access, security, judgment, and mission risk.
An allegation may affect more than the immediate UCMJ issue. It may affect clearance access, polygraph issues, special access, employment, promotion, assignments, and long-term professional reputation.
Fort Meade hosts major organizations involved in cyber, intelligence, communications, public affairs, and national security missions.
The official Fort Meade tenant page lists major tenant organizations. These include U.S. Cyber Command, National Security Agency, U.S. Army Cyber Command, Defense Information Systems Agency, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. Tenth Fleet, Defense Information School, and many other tenant activities. See the Fort Meade Units and Tenants.
Important Fort Meade mission areas include:
The mission area matters. A cyber case is different from an Article 120 case. A DINFOS student allegation is different from an off-post DUI. A clearance-sensitive case may require a defense strategy that addresses both the allegation and the client’s future access.
Fort Meade is surrounded by dense Maryland communities. These include Odenton, Severn, Laurel, Jessup, Columbia, Hanover, Annapolis Junction, Crofton, Glen Burnie, and Bowie.
The post also sits near Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Annapolis. That makes Fort Meade different from remote installations.
Service members may live off post, commute on Route 175 or the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, travel through BWI Airport, stay in hotels, visit restaurants, or interact with civilian police.
Off-post incidents can quickly become military cases. A DUI stop, domestic call, assault allegation, hotel incident, traffic crash, protective order, drug issue, or civilian arrest may lead to command action at Fort Meade.
Local evidence may include:
A defense strategy must account for both systems. A Maryland civilian case may move forward while the command separately considers UCMJ or administrative action.
Some Fort Meade cases overlap with Maryland civilian courts. The military does not always wait for the civilian case to finish.
The Maryland Judiciary lists District Court locations in Anne Arundel County, including Glen Burnie and Annapolis. See the Anne Arundel County Courts Directory.
The District Court in Anne Arundel County hears traffic matters, misdemeanors, certain felonies, and other local matters. The Glen Burnie location is often important for northern Anne Arundel County matters. See the District Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County, Glen Burnie.
Federal jurisdiction may also matter in some cases. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland states that Anne Arundel County is in the Northern Division. See the District of Maryland Court Information.
A service member may face a civilian case and a military case at the same time. The civilian case may involve DUI, assault, domestic violence, traffic offenses, protective orders, drug allegations, weapons issues, cyber issues, fraud, or other local charges.
The key point is practical: a local dismissal does not automatically stop a military case. A reduced civilian charge does not automatically prevent an Article 15. A weak civilian case can still become a career-threatening UCMJ matter.
The following examples are hypothetical. They are not claims about any actual case, business, command, employee, contractor, student, or person. They show how local facts can matter when a service member at Fort Meade is accused of misconduct.
Service members at Fort Meade may face UCMJ allegations tied to cyber work, intelligence missions, security clearance concerns, off-post conduct, digital communications, workplace issues, or command investigations.
Once a case enters the court-martial system, the stakes increase. The result can affect liberty, rank, retirement, clearance, future assignments, civilian employment, and reputation.
Your rights in an Army CID interview. Article 31(b) of the UCMJ gives you the right to know what you are suspected of and to remain silent, and you may ask for a lawyer before any questioning by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). Declining to answer is not an admission. At Fort Meade, as anywhere, the safest first step is to say you want to speak with counsel and then stop talking.
Being titled is not the same as being charged. Investigators can title a service member and index the name in the Defense Central Index of Investigations on only "credible information." The case may go nowhere, yet the entry can resurface years later in background investigations and clearance reviews, so how the investigation is handled from the start matters.
Your commander may not be the one deciding. Covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, kidnapping, murder, child pornography and (since 2025) sexual harassment are now controlled by an independent Office of Special Trial Counsel, which decides whether charges are preferred and referred. Other allegations at Fort Meade still go through the chain of command.
Domestic violence allegations. Article 128b covers violence against a spouse, intimate partner or family member, and an allegation of strangulation or suffocation can be charged as aggravated assault even without a visible injury. A qualifying conviction can also trigger the federal firearms ban under the Lautenberg Amendment, which can end a career that requires carrying a weapon.
Drug allegations. Marijuana may be legal for adults under Maryland law, but it remains prohibited for service members under Article 112a of the UCMJ, on post and off. A positive urinalysis is serious but contestable: the chain of custody, the testing process and innocent ingestion can all be challenged, and the government must prove the use was knowing and wrongful.
Pay and allowance allegations. BAH and other allowance cases are usually charged as larceny under Article 121 or as frauds against the United States under Article 124. An overpayment by itself is not a crime: the government must prove you intended to steal or defraud, and many of these cases begin as paperwork errors.
If you are under investigation at Fort Meade, talk to a military defense lawyer before you make any statement. Call Gonzalez & Waddington at 1-800-921-8607.
Many Fort Meade military justice cases begin with a complaint or command notification. Investigators may then collect statements, digital records, official documents, photos, and witness timelines.
A typical case may involve:
Investigators often seek statements early. Those statements can shape the government’s theory. A service member should not assume an interview is harmless because charges have not yet been filed.
Fort Meade cases can move quickly. Many involve cyber systems, classified or sensitive records, digital evidence, civilian contractors, and security clearance concerns.
Early defense action can help preserve favorable evidence. It can also identify gaps, inconsistencies, and unsupported assumptions before the command’s view becomes fixed.
This is especially important in cases involving Article 120 allegations, cyber records, access logs, false statements, drug allegations, workplace complaints, contradictory witness accounts, or clearance concerns.
A civilian military defense lawyer can help protect the service member before avoidable mistakes are made.
Article 120 cases may involve hotels, barracks rooms, apartments, workplace relationships, social gatherings, alcohol, dating apps, delayed reports, text messages, social media, phone extractions, and civilian witnesses.
These cases often turn on consent, credibility, intoxication, timing, digital evidence, witness contamination, and command assumptions.
Domestic violence and assault cases may involve Maryland police reports, 911 calls, medical records, photographs, protective orders, Family Advocacy records, text messages, and command no-contact orders.
Even if the civilian case is reduced or dismissed, the command may still pursue Article 15, adverse paperwork, separation, Board of Inquiry, or clearance-related action.
Fort Meade cases may involve secure workspaces, access logs, classified or sensitive information, network activity, government systems, training records, and workplace messages.
The defense must determine whether the allegation is criminal, administrative, security-related, or based on incomplete information.
These cases may involve travel cards, official claims, housing questions, time records, official forms, emails, text messages, or command-directed inquiries.
The defense must evaluate whether the government can prove intent. It must also determine whether records are complete and whether administrative mistakes are being treated as crimes.
A positive urinalysis, prescription issue, DUI, drunk-and-disorderly allegation, or off-post incident can lead to adverse paperwork, Article 15, separation processing, or clearance concerns.
For service members in intelligence, cyber, headquarters, communications, supervisory, or clearance-sensitive roles, administrative consequences may move faster than the criminal process.
Military criminal cases are not routine administrative matters. A serious allegation can threaten confinement, punitive discharge, rank, pay, clearance, reputation, and long-term career prospects.
A civilian military defense lawyer provides independent trial-focused representation. The goal is to protect the client early and prepare the case as if it may be litigated in court.
A service member facing court-martial generally has the right to detailed military defense counsel. Civilian military defense counsel does not replace detailed military counsel. Civilian counsel can work alongside the detailed military lawyer.
Civilian counsel can bring independent investigation, family communication, digital evidence review, witness preparation, cross-examination strategy, and continuity outside the command structure.
At Fort Meade, civilian defense counsel may need to review evidence from many sources. These may include CID reports, NCIS reports, OSI reports, CGIS reports, command emails, local police records, 911 calls, body-camera footage, official records, access logs, security documents, cyber records, phone extractions, text messages, social media, hotel records, civilian court filings, protective order records, urinalysis documents, and adverse administrative paperwork.
Gonzalez & Waddington represents service members worldwide in serious military cases. The firm defends clients in courts-martial, Article 120 cases, Article 128 and 128b cases, CID, NCIS, OSI, and CGIS investigations, Article 15/NJP actions, Boards of Inquiry, administrative separations, GOMOR rebuttals, security clearance matters, fraud cases, violent offenses, digital evidence cases, and other serious UCMJ matters.
Service members stationed at Fort Meade can face military consequences from both on-post and off-post allegations. Cases may involve Fort Meade, Odenton, Severn, Laurel, Columbia, Hanover, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Anne Arundel County, Maryland civilian courts, cyber records, access logs, digital evidence, workplace witnesses, and command investigations.
A civilian military defense lawyer can work alongside detailed military defense counsel in courts-martial, Article 120 cases, Article 15/NJP matters, letters of reprimand, GOMOR rebuttals, administrative separations, Boards of Inquiry, security clearance matters, and command investigations.
Because Fort Meade is an intelligence, cyber, information operations, and national security installation, defense strategy should account for access records, clearance concerns, civilian employees, contractor witnesses, local court exposure, digital evidence, witness timelines, and long-term military career consequences.
Michael Waddington handled my case with an exceptional level of professionalism from start to finish. He was knowledgeable, prepared, responsive, and extremely thorough. He took the time to understand the facts and never treated the case like just another file.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.
Yes. Service members have the right to military defense counsel and may also retain civilian defense counsel. Civilian counsel can assist during investigations, Article 32 hearings, courts-martial, Article 15 proceedings, administrative separations, Boards of Inquiry, and rebuttals to adverse paperwork.
Serious UCMJ cases may include Article 120 sexual assault allegations, assault, domestic violence, drug offenses, fraud, false official statements, cyber-related misconduct, digital evidence cases, and other felony-level military charges.
Yes. Investigations often begin long before charges are preferred. Investigators may request interviews, collect witness statements, search devices, and review digital or official records before the service member fully understands the risk.
Yes. A civilian arrest or police report in Odenton, Severn, Laurel, Columbia, Hanover, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., or another Maryland community can lead to command action. The command may consider Article 15, adverse paperwork, administrative separation, Board of Inquiry, clearance review, or court-martial.
They can be. Fort Meade is a cyber, intelligence, communications, and national security installation. Cases may involve access logs, government networks, classified or sensitive information, contractor witnesses, digital records, and clearance concerns.
Yes. The military does not always wait for civilian courts. A command may issue adverse paperwork, impose restrictions, initiate Article 15 proceedings, or begin separation action while the civilian case is still pending.
No. Article 31(b) of the UCMJ requires investigators to tell you what you are suspected of and that you have the right to remain silent, and you can ask for a lawyer before answering anything. An interview is evidence collection, and Army CID can title you as a subject on a low "credible information" standard that can follow you into background and clearance checks even if the case is dropped. Politely decline, ask for counsel, and call a military defense lawyer before you say anything.
Gonzalez & Waddington, LLC is a civilian military defense law firm representing service members worldwide. The firm focuses on military criminal defense, court-martial litigation, UCMJ investigations, administrative separation boards, Boards of Inquiry, GOMOR and letter of reprimand rebuttals, Article 15/NJP matters, sexual assault defense, violent offense defense, fraud cases, digital evidence cases, and other high-stakes military legal matters.
Michael Waddington is a former Army officer and former Army JAG. He has served as an Army Trial Defense Counsel, Senior Defense Counsel, Army prosecutor, Special Assistant United States Attorney, and Chief of Military Justice. He has more than 25 years of military defense experience and is admitted to all U.S. military trial courts worldwide.
Alexandra González-Waddington is a founding partner, former public defender, and experienced military defense lawyer. She is admitted to all U.S. military trial courts worldwide and has defended service members in sexual assault, violent crime, war crimes, murder, classified-information, domestic violence, and white-collar cases.
For Fort Meade service members, that background matters. Cases at this installation may involve intelligence records, cyber systems, secure workspaces, civilian witnesses, Maryland civilian evidence, digital messages, command pressure, clearance concerns, and serious UCMJ allegations.
If you are stationed at Fort Meade and are under investigation, do not wait. Get legal guidance before making statements or submitting paperwork that may be used against you later.
Gonzalez & Waddington can work alongside detailed military defense counsel. The firm can help review the evidence, preserve favorable information, prepare for command decisions, and build a defense strategy that accounts for both the military case and the Maryland cyber and intelligence environment.
Call Gonzalez & Waddington at 1-800-921-8607 or text 954-799-4019 to request a confidential consultation. No attorney can guarantee a result. The goal is to intervene early, protect your rights, and help you make informed decisions before the command or prosecution theory hardens.
This video explains what your rights are and how experienced criminal defense lawyers can make a difference.
Facing a military investigation, UCMJ allegation, or serious criminal charge? Gonzalez & Waddington provides trial-focused defense for high-stakes cases. Call 1-800-921-8607 or text 954-799-4019 for a confidential, no-cost consultation.
