§ Article 122 : Robbery

Article 122 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 922) punishes taking anything of value from a person, or in their presence, against their will, by force, violence, or fear of immediate or future injury to that person, their property, or a relative, family member, or companion present at the time.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who takes anything of value from the person or in the presence of another, against that person’s will, by means of force or violence, or fear of immediate or future injury to that person or their property, or to the person or property of a relative or family member, or of anyone in their company at the time of the robbery.

What It Covers

1. The accused wrongfully took certain property from the person, or from the possession and in the presence, of a person named or described.
2. The taking was against that person’s will.
3. The taking was by means of force, violence, or both, or by putting the person in fear of immediate or future injury to that person, a relative, a family member, or anyone accompanying the person at the time — or to the property of any of them.
4. The property belonged to a person named or described.
5. The property was of a certain value, or of some value.
6. Where alleged: the means of force or violence, or of putting the person in fear, was a dangerous weapon.

Key rules

• The property need not be within any particular distance of the victim. Forcing an owner by threats to reveal where valuables are hidden in another room, then taking them, is robbery.
• Force or violence must be actual force or violence to the person, preceding or accompanying the taking; no fear is required. Any force is enough if it overcomes resistance, prevents resistance, or overcomes a fastening attaching the item to the person. Merely snatching an item or picking a pocket by stealth, with no other force and no fear, is not robbery.
• Fear requires a demonstration of force or menace that places the victim in reasonable apprehension of present or future injury, and the taking must occur while that apprehension exists.
• Robberies of different persons at the same time and place are separate offenses.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• With a dangerous weapon: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 15 years.
• All other cases: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 10 years.

Sentencing parameters. Both forms are Category 3 (30–120 months).

The newer sentencing rules apply, subject to the capital-case rules, when the accused is convicted only of offenses committed after 27 December 2023. See How UCMJ Sentencing Rules Apply. The maximum authorized punishment and the applicable sentencing framework do not predict the sentence in a particular case.

Related and Distinguished

Robbery requires a taking from the person or in the person’s presence by force, violence, or fear. Larceny under Article 121 does not, and extortion under Article 127 is complete on communicating a threat with intent to obtain something of value, without any taking.

What the Provision Does

Article 122 requires a taking from the person, or in the person’s presence, against the person’s will, by force, violence, or fear. The maximum confinement is 10 years, or 15 years when the robbery is committed with a dangerous weapon.

History

Robbery appeared as Article 122 of the original 1950 UCMJ and was codified at 10 U.S.C. § 922 in 1956. The Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5434) rewrote the article, effective January 1, 2019, removing the words “with intent to steal” from the statutory text.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 922 (Article 122, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 67
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C