U.S. Code » Title 10 » Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part PART II— PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 47— UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER X— PUNITIVE ARTICLES

10 U.S.C. § 899

Art. 99. Misbehavior before the enemy

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Any member of the armed forces who before or in the presence of the enemy—(1) runs away;(2) shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;(3) through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;(4) casts away his arms or ammunition;(5) is guilty of cowardly conduct;(6) quits his place of duty to plunder or pillage;(7) causes false alarms in any command, unit, or place under control of the armed forces;(8) willfully fails to do his utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy troops, combatants, vessels, aircraft, or any other thing, which it is his duty so to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy; or(9) does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to any troops, combatants, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces belonging to the United States or their allies when engaged in battle;shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 69.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised section

Source (U.S. Code)

Source (Statutes at Large)

899

50:693.

May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 1 (Art. 99), 64 Stat. 137.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1966–2024 · leading case: United States v. Matthews, 16 M.J. 354 (1983).
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United States v. Matthews, 16 M.J. 354 (1983). “See Articles 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 106, 110, 113, 118, and 120, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 899 , 900, 901, 902, 904, 906, 910, 913, 918, and 920, respectively.”
United States v. Curtis, 32 M.J. 252 (1991). “” Article 99 of the Code, 10 USC § 899 , authorizes death for nine types of misbehavior “before or in the presence of the enemy,” and thereby it reflects a legislative judgment that such conduct is very harmful to the military mission.”
United States v. Schwabauer, 37 M.J. 338 (1993). “99, UCMJ, 10 USC § 899 . Article 108 provides: Any person subject to this chapter who, without proper authority— (1) sells or otherwise disposes of; (2) willfully or through neglect damages, destroys, or loses; or (3) willfully or through neglect suffers to be lost, damaged,…”
United States v. Rojas, 15 M.J. 902 (1983). “See Articles 94, 99, 100, 102 and 104, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 899 , 900, 902, 904, (crimes capital at all times), and Articles 85, 90, 101, 106 and 113, UCMJ, 10 U.”
United States v. Gay, 16 M.J. 586 (1983). “Further, if the death penalty for the military offenses discussed above is abolished, the ability of the United States to successfully wage war will be greatly diminished when combat personnel perceive life imprisonment with the possibility of parole infinitely preferable to a…”
Commonwealth v. Coleman, 854 A.2d 978 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2004). “C § 892; misbehavior before the enemy, 10 U.S.C § 899 and misconduct as prisoner, 10 U.”
United States v. Schwabauer, 34 M.J. 709 (1992). “The appellant also pleaded not guilty to misbehavior before the enemy, in violation of Article 99, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 899 , but guilty by exceptions and substitutions to wrongful disposition of military property in violation of Article 108, UCMJ.”
United States v. Wisehart (A.F.C.C.A. 2016). · cites it 2× “Contrary to his plea, he was convicted of misbehavior before the enemy in violation of Article 99, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 899 . The military judge sentenced him to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 6 months, forfeitures of $1,021.”
Bergdahl v. United States (D.D.C. 2023). · cites it 2× “§ 885 (desertion); 10 U.S.C. § 899 (misbehavior before the enemy), the Court concludes that “an objective, disinterested observer .”
United States v. Morchinek (A.F.C.C.A. 2016). “ZIMMERMAN, Judge: Appellant was convicted, contrary to his plea, by a panel of officer members of misbehavior before the enemy in violation of Article 99, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 899 . Appellant was convicted by the military judge, in accordance with his plea, of use, distribution and…”
United States v. Schmidt (C.A.A.F. 2022). “10 U.S.C. § 899 (1)– (9). These improper acts include running away, casting away arms or ammunition, quitting a place of duty to plunder or pillage, and so forth.”
United States v. Howard (A.F.C.C.A. 2024). “Contrary to his pleas, a panel of officer and enlisted members found Appellant guilty of one specification of assault upon a superior commissioned officer, in violation of Article 89, Uniform Code of Military Jus- tice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 899 ; one specification of willfully…”
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