§ Article 93a : Prohibited Activities With Military Recruit or Trainee by Person in Position of Special Trust

Article 93a of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 893a) punishes an officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer in a training leadership position who engages in prohibited sexual activity with a specially protected junior member of the armed forces, and a military recruiter who engages in prohibited sexual activity with an applicant for military service or with a delayed-entry enlistee. Consent is not a defense.

Who It Applies To

Abuse of training leadership position: any person subject to the UCMJ who is an officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer, who is in a training leadership position with respect to a specially protected junior member of the armed forces, and who engages in prohibited sexual activity with that member.

Abuse of position as a military recruiter: any military recruiter subject to the UCMJ who engages in prohibited sexual activity with an applicant for military service, or with a specially protected junior member of the armed forces who is enlisted under a delayed entry program.

What It Covers

Abuse of training leadership position

1. The accused was a commissioned, warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer.
2. The accused was in a training leadership position with respect to a specially protected junior member of the armed forces.
3. The accused engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a person the accused knew was a specially protected junior member of the armed forces.

Abuse of position as a military recruiter

1. The accused was a commissioned, warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer.
2. The accused was performing duties as a military recruiter.
3. The accused engaged in prohibited sexual activity with a person the accused knew was an applicant for military service, or a specially protected junior member of the armed forces enlisted under a delayed entry program.

Key definitions and rules

• A specially protected junior member of the armed forces is a member assigned to, or awaiting assignment to, basic training or other initial active duty for training (including a delayed-entry enlistee); a cadet, midshipman, officer candidate, or student in another officer qualification program; or a member in a program the Secretary concerned has identified by regulation as a training program for initial career qualification.
• A training leadership position includes drill instructor and other leadership positions in basic training, officer candidate school, a reserve officers’ training corps unit, or another entry or initial-qualification training program, and faculty and staff of the four service academies.
• What counts as prohibited sexual activity is defined by each service’s regulations, which must account for circumstances such as preexisting relationships (for example, marriage). The offense reaches only activity occurring while a training or recruiting relationship exists.
• The accused must have actual or constructive knowledge of the other person’s protected status, which may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
• Consent is not a defense.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.

Sentencing parameters. 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 93a does not depend on lack of consent, which distinguishes it from Article 120 (rape and sexual assault generally). It is also distinct from Article 93 (cruelty and maltreatment), which addresses abusive treatment of a person subject to the accused’s orders and does not require sexual activity.

What the Provision Does

Recruiters, drill instructors, and training cadre hold significant authority over applicants, recruits, and trainees. Article 93a treats sexual activity within those relationships as prohibited on its own terms, without requiring proof of force or lack of consent.

History

Article 93a was added to the UCMJ by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5410), effective January 1, 2019.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 893a (Article 93a, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 20
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C