§ Article 108 : Military Property — Loss, Damage, Destruction, or Wrongful Disposition

Article 108 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 908) punishes selling or otherwise disposing of military property without authority, and willfully or through neglect damaging, destroying, losing, or suffering military property to be lost, damaged, destroyed, sold, or wrongfully disposed of.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who, without proper authority, sells or otherwise disposes of military property of the United States; or who willfully or through neglect damages, destroys, or loses such property; or who willfully or through neglect suffers such property to be lost, damaged, destroyed, sold, or wrongfully disposed of.

What It Covers

Selling or otherwise disposing of military property

1. The accused sold or otherwise disposed of certain property.
2. The sale or disposition was without proper authority.
3. The property was military property of the United States.
4. The property was of a certain value. Where alleged: the property was a firearm or explosive.

Damaging, destroying, or losing military property

1. The accused, without proper authority, damaged or destroyed certain property in a certain way, or lost certain property.
2. The property was military property of the United States.
3. The damage, destruction, or loss was willfully caused by the accused or resulted from the accused’s neglect.
4. The property was of a certain value, or the damage was of a certain amount.

Suffering military property to be lost, damaged, destroyed, sold, or wrongfully disposed of

1. Certain property was lost, damaged, destroyed, sold, or wrongfully disposed of. Where alleged: the property was a firearm or explosive.
2. The property was military property of the United States.
3. The accused, without proper authority, suffered that result through a certain omission of duty.
4. The omission was willful or negligent.
5. The property was of a certain value, or the damage was of a certain amount.

Key rules

• Military property is all property, real or personal, owned, held, or used by one of the armed forces. It is a term of art: all military property is Government property, but not all Government property is military property. Retail merchandise of Service exchange stores is not military property under this article.
• It is immaterial whether the property had been issued to the accused, to someone else, or at all. If items of individual issue are shown to have been issued to the accused, it may be inferred, depending on all the evidence, that their damage, destruction, or loss was due to the accused’s neglect.
• To “suffer” means to allow or permit. Examples in the Manual include deliberately violating a specific law, regulation, or order; reckless or unwarranted personal use; leaving property exposed to the weather, insecurely housed, or unguarded; permitting others to consume, waste, or injure it; and lending it to a person known to be irresponsible who damages it.
• Value and damage. For loss, destruction, sale, or wrongful disposition, the property’s value controls the maximum punishment; for damage, the amount of damage controls — generally the lesser of the Government’s cost of repair or replacement.
• For the maximum punishment, “explosive” includes ammunition.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• Selling or otherwise disposing, $1,000 or less: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
• Selling or otherwise disposing, more than $1,000 or any firearm or explosive: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 10 years.
• Through neglect, $1,000 or less: confinement for 6 months and forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 6 months, with no punitive discharge.
• Through neglect, more than $1,000: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
• Willfully, $1,000 or less: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
• Willfully, more than $1,000 or any firearm or explosive: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 10 years.

The neglect and willful tiers cover damaging, destroying, or losing military property, and suffering it to be lost, damaged, destroyed, sold, or wrongfully disposed of.

Sentencing parameters.

• Selling or disposing, $1,000 or less: Category 1 (0–12 months).
• Selling or disposing, more than $1,000 or any firearm or explosive: Category 2 (1–36 months).
• Through neglect, any value: Category 1 (0–12 months); for $1,000 or less, the recommended maximum is 6 months.
• Willfully, $1,000 or less: Category 1 (0–12 months).
• Willfully, more than $1,000 or any firearm or explosive: Category 2 (1–36 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

Article 108 is limited to military property of the United States. Other property is addressed by Article 109, and captured or abandoned property by Article 108a. Stealing or wrongfully appropriating military property is addressed by Article 121, which treats military property as an aggravating factor.

What the Provision Does

Article 108 is limited to military property of the United States. It separates unauthorized sale or other disposition from damage, destruction, or loss, distinguishes willful from negligent conduct, and sets the maximum punishment by the conduct, the value involved, and whether the property is a firearm or explosive.

History

Article 108 appeared in the original 1950 Uniform Code of Military Justice and was codified at 10 U.S.C. § 908 in 1956. Its text has not been amended since.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 908 (Article 108, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 43
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C