This article is part of a comprehensive series covering the punitive articles of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). It is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Service members facing any UCMJ charge should consult a qualified military defense attorney.
The punitive articles of the UCMJ begin at Article 77 and run through Article 134. Each defines a specific criminal offense, sets its elements, and establishes the maximum punishment a court-martial can impose. Some carry the death penalty. Others carry no more than a few months of confinement. All of them can end a military career.
This guide covers Articles 77 through 116, the range most frequently encountered in military criminal defense practice. Each section links to a detailed breakdown of the individual article, its elements, its defenses, and the case law shaping how it applies today.
How the Punitive Articles Work
Every UCMJ charge starts with a specific article. The Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM 2024) breaks each article into its elements, the facts the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction. Miss one element, and the charge fails.
The articles are grouped by function, not by severity. Articles 77 through 82 establish liability frameworks and inchoate offenses. Articles 85 through 92 address absence and authority offenses. Articles 93 through 98 cover custodial and supervisory misconduct. Articles 99 through 103b handle wartime offenses. Articles 104 through 107a deal with fraud and records crimes. Articles 108 through 116 address property, operations, and safety offenses.
Understanding which article applies, and which elements must be proven, is where court-martial defense begins.
Liability and Inchoate Offenses (Articles 77-82)
These articles do not describe standalone criminal acts in the traditional sense. They establish how criminal responsibility attaches and when incomplete crimes become punishable.
Article 77 (Principals) defines principal liability. Anyone who aids, abets, counsels, commands, or procures the commission of any UCMJ offense is equally liable as the person who committed it. Article 77 is not charged alone. It operates through the substantive offense, making the getaway driver as guilty as the person who committed the robbery.
Article 78 (Accessory After the Fact) is different. It targets the person who helps the offender escape justice after the crime is complete. The critical element is knowledge: the accused must have known the offense was committed. Without that knowledge, there is no accessory liability.
Article 79 (Lesser Included Offenses) is procedural. It allows a court-martial panel to convict on a less serious offense than the one charged, even if the lesser offense was never separately charged. After the Military Justice Act of 2016, two independent paths exist: the elements test and the presidentially enumerated list.
Article 80 (Attempts) makes attempting any UCMJ offense punishable even when the crime is never completed. The prosecution must prove specific intent and an overt act that goes beyond mere preparation. Maximum punishment matches the completed offense.
Article 81 (Conspiracy) requires two things: an agreement between two or more persons to commit an offense, and one overt act by any conspirator to advance the plan. Conspiracy does not merge with the completed offense, meaning a service member can be convicted and punished for both.
Article 82 (Solicitation) criminalizes soliciting or advising another person to commit any UCMJ offense. The MJA 2016 expanded it from four specific offenses to the entire code. The offense is complete at the moment of solicitation, regardless of whether the solicited crime ever occurs.
Absence Offenses (Articles 85-87a)
Unauthorized absence accounts for more UCMJ charges than any other category. The articles in this group share a common framework but differ in severity based on intent, duration, and circumstances.
Article 85 (Desertion) is the most serious absence offense. What separates desertion from AWOL is intent: the prosecution must prove the accused intended to remain away permanently, avoid hazardous duty, or shirk important service. Intent is proven through circumstantial evidence, including the length of absence, disposal of uniforms, and how the absence ended.
Article 86 (Absence Without Leave) is the most frequently charged offense in the UCMJ. It covers three categories: failure to go to an appointed place of duty, leaving an appointed place of duty, and absence from unit or organization. No specific intent is required for the basic offense.
Article 87a (Resistance, Flight, Breach of Arrest, and Escape) consolidates four offenses into one statute. Maximum punishment ranges from six months’ confinement for breach of arrest to five years for escape from confinement. The common thread is evading or resisting the military justice system’s authority over the accused.
Authority and Discipline Offenses (Articles 88-95a)
These articles protect the chain of command from both directions. Some protect superiors from subordinate misconduct. Others protect subordinates from abuse by those in authority.
Article 88 (Contempt Toward Officials) applies only to commissioned officers and criminalizes contemptuous words against the President, Vice President, Congress, and other specified officials. The line between protected criticism and punishable contempt turns on whether the words express scorn toward the official rather than reasoned disagreement with policy.
Article 89 (Disrespect Toward Superior Commissioned Officer) covers both disrespect and, since the MJA 2016 restructuring, assault upon a superior commissioned officer in the execution of office. The officer’s presence is not required for the disrespect offense.
Article 90 (Willfully Disobeying Superior Commissioned Officer) punishes willful disobedience of a lawful command from a superior commissioned officer. Every element must be proven: the command was lawful, the issuer was a superior commissioned officer, the accused knew the person was their superior, and the disobedience was willful.
Article 91 (Insubordinate Conduct) extends protection downward to warrant officers, NCOs, and petty officers. It covers three offenses: assault, willful disobedience, and disrespectful treatment.
Article 92 (Failure to Obey Order or Regulation) is the broadest obedience provision in the UCMJ. It covers violation of general orders, failure to obey specific orders, and dereliction of duty. The dereliction subsection is particularly significant because it can be charged based on negligence, not just willful misconduct.
Article 93 (Cruelty and Maltreatment) reverses direction. It punishes superiors who abuse their authority through cruelty, oppression, or maltreatment toward persons subject to their orders. The MCM explicitly includes sexual harassment within the scope of maltreatment.
Article 93a (Prohibited Activities with Military Recruit or Trainee) specifically targets sexual misconduct by persons in positions of special trust toward recruits, trainees, and applicants. Consent is not a defense under this article.
Article 94 (Mutiny or Sedition) is among the few UCMJ articles authorizing the death penalty in both wartime and peacetime. It covers mutiny by violence, mutiny by collective refusal, sedition, and the failure to suppress or report either offense.
Article 95 (Offenses by Sentinel or Lookout) governs misconduct by sentinels and lookouts, including being drunk on post, sleeping on post, and leaving post before being properly relieved. In wartime, the maximum punishment is death.
Article 95a (Disrespect Toward Sentinel or Lookout) makes it a separate offense to direct disrespectful language or behavior toward a sentinel or lookout in the execution of duty.
Custodial Offenses (Articles 96-98)
These articles govern the military’s custodial and detention functions, from prisoner management to the conduct expected of service members held as prisoners of war.
Article 96 (Release of Prisoner Without Authority) criminalizes four categories of custodial failure: releasing a prisoner without authority, allowing escape through neglect, allowing escape through design, and drinking with a prisoner.
Article 97 (Unlawful Detention) prohibits the unlawful apprehension, arrest, or confinement of any person. It specifically targets those who have military authority to restrain others and abuse that authority.
Article 98 (Misconduct as Prisoner) governs wartime conduct of service members held as prisoners of war. It criminalizes securing favorable treatment at the expense of fellow prisoners and maltreating fellow prisoners while in captivity.
Wartime Offenses (Articles 99-103b)
The most severe articles in the UCMJ. Every offense in this group carries the death penalty under at least some circumstances. These articles address conduct that threatens military operations, national security, and the laws of war.
Article 99 (Misbehavior Before the Enemy) defines nine separate offenses committed before or in the presence of the enemy, from running away to cowardly conduct to failing to engage. “Before or in the presence of the enemy” extends beyond direct visual contact to include zones of active or expected hostile operations.
Article 100 (Subordinate Compelling Surrender) punishes a subordinate who compels or attempts to compel a commander to surrender, abandon military property, or strike the colors without authority.
Article 101 (Improper Use of Countersign) criminalizes the improper disclosure or misuse of a military countersign, password, or parole.
Article 102 (Forcing a Safeguard) punishes the violation of a safeguard, a protection placed by military authority over specific persons, places, or property.
Article 103 (Spies) reaches any person, not just service members, found lurking as a spy or acting as a spy in time of war. It is one of the few UCMJ provisions allowing trial by military commission.
Article 103a (Espionage) covers espionage by persons subject to the UCMJ during both peacetime and wartime, filling the gap that Article 103 leaves for non-wartime spying.
Article 103b (Aiding the Enemy) is the broadest loyalty offense in the UCMJ, criminalizing any form of material, logistical, or communicative assistance to an enemy.
Fraud and Records Offenses (Articles 104-107a)
These articles protect the integrity of military records, the personnel system, and the truth-telling obligations that military service requires.
Article 104 (Public Records Offenses) criminalizes the willful alteration, concealment, removal, or destruction of public records.
Article 104a (Fraudulent Enlistment, Appointment, or Separation) targets fraud at the gateway of military service, covering both fraudulent enlistment and fraudulent separation.
Article 104b (Unlawful Enlistment, Appointment, or Separation) punishes the person on the other side of the desk: the service member who knowingly processes an enlistment, appointment, or separation they know is prohibited.
Article 105 (Forgery) covers three distinct document fraud offenses: false making, false alteration, and forgery of a signature or instrument.
Article 105a (False or Unauthorized Pass) criminalizes making, altering, counterfeiting, or tampering with military identification documents, passes, and discharge certificates.
Article 106 (Impersonation) targets wrongful impersonation of officers, NCOs, or agents of the United States.
Article 106a (Wearing Unauthorized Insignia) makes it an offense to wrongfully wear unauthorized insignia, decorations, badges, or ribbons.
Article 107 (False Official Statements) covers false official statements and false swearing. It is one of the most frequently charged UCMJ articles, cutting across every branch and every rank.
Article 107a (Parole Violation) makes violating military parole conditions a criminal offense punishable by court-martial.
Property Offenses (Articles 108-109a)
The military maintains property inventories in the hundreds of billions. These articles establish criminal liability for misconduct involving both military and non-military property.
Article 108 (Military Property) covers four categories: selling or disposing, willfully damaging or destroying, losing through neglect, and suffering property to be lost through neglect.
Article 108a (Captured or Abandoned Property) addresses misconduct involving captured or abandoned property in conflict zones.
Article 109 (Non-Military Property) criminalizes willful or reckless destruction of property belonging to someone other than the federal government.
Article 109a (Mail Matter) gives military mail offenses standalone criminal status, covering both wrongful taking of mail and tampering.
Operations and Safety Offenses (Articles 110-116)
These articles address misconduct in the operation of military equipment, vehicles, and vessels, as well as threats, endangerment, and collective disorder.
Article 110 (Improper Hazarding of Vessel or Aircraft) addresses willful or negligent hazarding. Willful hazarding carries up to ten years’ confinement. Negligent hazarding carries up to two years.
Article 111 (Leaving the Scene of a Vehicle Accident) is the UCMJ’s hit-and-run statute, with a critical addition civilian law typically lacks: it can charge senior passengers as well as drivers.
Article 112 (Drunkenness and Other Incapacitation) covers three distinct offenses: drunk on duty, drunk as a prisoner, and incapacitation through controlled substances on duty.
Article 112a (Controlled Substance Offenses) is the military’s most frequently prosecuted drug offense statute, covering seven prohibited acts from personal use to distribution and import.
Article 113 (Drunken or Reckless Operation) is the military’s DUI statute, covering drunk or reckless operation of any vehicle, aircraft, or vessel, anywhere in the world.
Article 114 (Endangerment) replaced the obsolete dueling provision with three modern endangerment offenses: reckless endangerment, negligent discharge of a firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Article 115 (Communicating Threats) criminalizes the wrongful communication of a threat to injure the person, property, or reputation of another.
Article 116 (Riot or Breach of Peace) covers collective disorder: riot requiring three or more persons, and breach of peace covering individual conduct that disturbs military order.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this content. If you are facing charges under the UCMJ or need legal guidance regarding military justice matters, consult a qualified military defense attorney.