§ Article 113 : Drunken or Reckless Operation of a Vehicle, Aircraft, or Vessel

Article 113 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 913) punishes operating or physically controlling a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel in a reckless or wanton manner or while impaired by a controlled substance, and operating or being in actual physical control of one while drunk or with a blood or breath alcohol concentration equal to or exceeding the applicable limit.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who operates or physically controls a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel in a reckless or wanton manner, or while impaired by a controlled substance covered under Article 112a; or who operates or is in actual physical control of a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel while drunk, or with a blood or breath alcohol concentration at or above the applicable legal limit.

What It Covers

1. The accused was operating or in physical control of a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel.
2. While doing so, the accused operated or controlled it in a wanton or reckless manner; or was drunk or impaired; or had a blood or breath alcohol concentration equal to or exceeding the applicable limit.
3. Where alleged: the accused thereby caused the vehicle, aircraft, or vessel to injure a person.

The applicable alcohol limit

• In the United States: the lesser of the State’s blood alcohol content limit where the conduct occurred, or 0.08 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or per 210 liters of breath. For an installation in more than one State with different limits, a single limit may be selected to apply uniformly on that installation.
• Outside the United States: 0.08, or a lower limit the Secretary of Defense prescribes by regulation.

Key rules

• Operating includes driving or guiding the vehicle, aircraft, or vessel while in motion, in person or through another, and setting its motive power in action or manipulating its controls so as to cause it to move.
• Physical control means the present capability and power to dominate, direct, or regulate the vehicle, aircraft, or vessel, whether or not it is operated. An intoxicated person behind the wheel with the keys in or near the ignition may be in actual physical control; a person asleep in the back seat with the keys in a pocket is not.
• Drunk refers to intoxication by alcohol, and impaired to intoxication by a controlled substance; each means intoxication sufficient to impair the rational and full exercise of mental or physical faculties.
• Reckless operation shows a culpable disregard of foreseeable consequences to others; it is not established solely by an injury, excessive speed, or erratic operation, although each may be relevant. Wanton includes reckless and may connote willfulness or disregard of probable consequences.
• For the personal-injury form, the accused’s conduct must be a proximate cause of the injury — a material contributing cause, not necessarily the only or the immediate one.
• Drunken operation and reckless operation are separate offenses that may be charged separately.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• Resulting in personal injury: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 18 months.
• No personal injury involved: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.

Sentencing parameters. With personal injury, Category 2 (1–36 months), with a recommended maximum of 18 months. Without personal injury, Category 1 (0–12 months), with a recommended maximum of 6 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 113 addresses the manner and condition of operating a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel — distinct from Article 111, which addresses leaving the scene of an accident after it has occurred, and from Article 112, which addresses drunkenness in a duty or custody context generally rather than while operating a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel specifically.

What the Provision Does

Article 113 addresses how, and in what condition, a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel is operated or physically controlled: recklessly or wantonly, while impaired by a controlled substance, while drunk, or at or above the applicable alcohol-concentration limit. The maximum confinement increases from 6 to 18 months when the offense results in personal injury.

History

Drunken or reckless driving appeared as Article 111 of the original 1950 UCMJ, codified at 10 U.S.C. § 911 in 1956. Congress added impairment by a controlled substance in 1986 (Pub. L. 99-570), extended the article to aircraft and vessels and added a per se alcohol-concentration offense in 1992 (Pub. L. 102-484), and tied the applicable limit to State law in 2001 and 2003 (Pub. L. 107-107; Pub. L. 108-136). The Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, §§ 5401, 5425) renumbered it as Article 113 and lowered the federal limit from 0.10 to 0.08, effective January 1, 2019.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 913 (Article 113, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 51
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C