My take is that the man pissed someone off in personnel. Rather than ask for a hearing he said something to the efect that: "Tou can't do that!" and the army chose to prosecute the letter of the law. I have seen many people self-destruct when a cooler, calmer reaction could have avoided the problem.
Knowing that ignorance is no excuse we need to remember a primary precept of the army: "A lieutenant is presumed ignorant until proven otherwise."
