§ Article 83 : Malingering

Article 83 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 883) punishes feigning illness, physical disablement, mental lapse, or mental derangement, or intentionally inflicting self-injury, done with the intent to avoid work, duty, or service.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ who, for the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or service, feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse, or mental derangement, or intentionally inflicts self-injury.

What It Covers

1. The accused was assigned to, or was aware of a prospective assignment to or availability for, the performance of work, duty, or service.
2. The accused feigned illness, physical disablement, mental lapse, or mental derangement, or intentionally inflicted injury on themselves.
3. The accused’s purpose or intent in doing so was to avoid the work, duty, or service.
4. Where charged in its aggravated form: the offense was committed in time of war or in a hostile fire pay zone.

The purpose of avoiding duty — whether all duty or a particular job — is what defines the offense. The nature, seriousness, or permanence of the injury or feigned disability is not itself an element, although it may bear on whether that purpose existed. An injury can be self-inflicted by nonviolent means or by omission, such as voluntary starvation.

The Manual’s accompanying discussion states that bona fide suicide attempts should not be charged as criminal offenses.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• Feigning illness, physical disablement, mental lapse, or mental derangement: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year — or 3 years if committed in time of war or in a hostile fire pay zone.
• Intentional self-inflicted injury: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years — or 10 years if committed in time of war or in a hostile fire pay zone.

Sentencing parameters.

• Feigning, not in time of war or a hostile fire pay zone: Category 1 (0–12 months).
• Intentional self-inflicted injury, not in time of war or a hostile fire pay zone: Category 2 (1–36 months).
• Either form in time of war or in a hostile fire pay zone: a sentencing-criteria offense (no numbered category).

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

Malingering requires the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or service; a genuine medical condition, or an injury inflicted without that purpose, is not malingering. Intentional self-injury without that purpose is addressed by a separate Article 134 offense, Self-Injury Without Intent to Avoid Service.

What the Provision Does

Article 83 requires that the feigning or self-injury be done with intent to avoid work, duty, or service. The maximum confinement depends on the form and on whether the offense occurred in time of war or in a hostile fire pay zone, from 1 to 10 years.

History

The statutory language traces to the original 1950 Uniform Code of Military Justice. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (Pub. L. 114-328) renumbered this offense as Article 83, effective January 1, 2019; the Article 83 designation previously used for fraudulent enlistment, appointment, or separation now corresponds to Article 104a.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 883 (Article 83, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 7
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12D