Adultery in the Military - what are the possible consequences?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 20:29:38 -0400

I have a Soldier in my unit that had sex and got another woman pregnant. He's married and the woman is married to an Officer. What kind of punishment his he looking at?

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Jul 5 at 2015 8:34 PM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 20:34:09 -0400

Its an Article 134 violation, there are three elements that must be met to prove adultery existed. They are:

(1) That the accused wrongfully had sexual intercourse with a certain person;
(2) That, at the time, the accused or the other person was married to someone else; and
(3) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

here's a link to some helpful information:

http://asktop.net/articles/3-elements-of-adultery-under-article-134/

3 Elements of Adultery under Article 134

Adultery is a crime punishable under Article 134, UCMJ. There are three elements that must be met to prove adultery existed. They are: (1) That the accused wrongfully had sexual intercoursewith ...

Response by PVT Robert Gresham made Jul 5 at 2015 9:29 PM

PVT Robert Gresham — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 21:29:27 -0400

SSG Paul Gobel, whereas I agree that the act itself is immoral, and sleeping with another service member's spouse is just plain wrong, this is an offense that I have seen time and again smoothed over, and forgotten, by the chain-of-command, seemingly feeling that this is a "forgotten" evil.

The worst case of punishment that I have seen (and mind you, this was almost 30 years ago) was a summarized Article 15, 15 and 15, and 1/2 months pay for one month, I believe. I do not know if the punishment for this offense has been made more, or less, stringent over the years.

I believe the advice by CSM Michael J. Uhlig is probably your best source.

Response by SSG Keith Cashion made Jul 5 at 2015 10:49 PM

SSG Keith Cashion — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 22:49:42 -0400

Whatched a SSG loose his career for the same thing. In the end he lost wife, kids, career and still had to pay support for a child he can only see under supervised visits.

Response by SPC George Rudenko made Jul 5 at 2015 10:55 PM

SPC George Rudenko — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 22:55:22 -0400

I don't think I had a more heartbreaking sight than to go back to my unit, from Iraq, to see 3,4,5 women 3,4,5,6 months pregnant from other men. Made me ask, what did I fight for?

Response by SSgt Charles Edwards made Jul 5 at 2015 11:40 PM

SSgt Charles Edwards — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 23:40:08 -0400

Well, this is interesting. Reminds me of an incident at Rhein-Main before it closed.

It was a dark morning...
Ok, I'll spare the theatrics. A firefighter was gone with the base softball team playing in a tournament. He returned home a day early and caught his wife (who worked at the base gym and came off as very flirtatious) with another man in their bedroom.

That's the meat and potatoes of the incident.

Now, the amusing part. I'm scheduled to work Police-2 (housing patrol) the following morning. Because of the earlier events described above, I had to wait until the incident was resolved (I think it was initially declared a domestic). Anyway, my off going comes into the squadron with a pair of shoes and a brown paper bag. I asked what was all that. It's the guy's (guy caught with firefighter's wife) clothes was the response. Turns out, the guy panicked, ran out the housing unit (after being allegedly being pushed) butt-naked. He streaked across housing, went into another building and used a shirt to cover himself up. When he was brought in, they had him in a rain coat that was kept in the patrol car. So, on top of being charged with adultery, this guy was hemmed up for indecent exposure too. Probably one of the more memorable tales from my time in service.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 5 at 2015 11:42 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 23:42:05 -0400

The real consequences are not found in the Manual for Courts-Marshall.

Response by SFC Joseph Weber made Jul 6 at 2015 12:45 AM

SFC Joseph Weber — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:45:12 -0400

Typically they don;t do a CM for just adultery. Mostly just throw it in on someone who broke a whole slew of laws. Since it is an officer who is the aggrieved it will depend on whether he or his COC want to make a big deal out of it or just let it slip away and be forgotten.

Response by MAJ Bryan Zeski made Jul 6 at 2015 3:29 AM

MAJ Bryan Zeski — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 03:29:02 -0400

18+ years of child support.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2015 9:54 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:54:01 -0400

Anyone got some butter for this piece of toast?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2015 10:05 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 10:05:50 -0400

To the original question, the maximum punishment that could be imposed under the UCMJ is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year of confinement.

In reality, it's unlikely this goes to a General Court Martial. Typically, adultery cases are very difficult to prove (however, in this case, this does not appear to be the issue due to the pregnancy being strong evidence of sexual intercourse).

Response by SFC Jason Babb made Nov 25 at 2015 8:23 PM

SFC Jason Babb — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 20:23:21 -0500

I know a guy who did something similar and got a GOMOR filed in his perm records. Then months later, the company command team tried to chapter him for it. This...guy...is still in this situation so I dunno.

Response by SFC Pete Kain made Apr 29 at 2016 1:33 PM

SFC Pete Kain — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:33:06 -0400

Death if the cuckholded husband finds out and has no sense of humor.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 7 at 2016 4:29 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:29:27 -0400

Happened to me, it sucks. Glad he found out and doesn't have to waste anymore of his time. The other guy got nothing because there was no proof.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 10 at 2016 9:38 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 09:38:05 -0400

I do not envy your situation. I dealt with the same issue in a previous unit. Good luck. The only positive thing was neither guilty party had children... well... that is until nine months later. Last I heard they were still together.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 10 at 2016 8:01 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 20:01:54 -0400

they dont do a dam thing about it.....fort hood is the first one to look the other way, some other post too

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 11 at 2016 12:10 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 00:10:54 -0400

Given recent reports he is probably looking at below the zone promotion to General Officer. I had a peer that slept with an E6s wife. He was an O-3 and made BZ to MAJ and BZ to LTC. You say something you get ostracized. The tag line was if you cant fuck you cant fight. This scumbag would assigned class rosters based on junior officers he thinks he could sleep with. Disgusting. He became branch manger and which screwed over my career. But Im happy to be getting out if he ie promoted ahead of peers.

Response by CPL Jay Strickland made Jul 11 at 2016 5:56 PM

CPL Jay Strickland — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:56:24 -0400

Where I have seen it prosecuted is when it is another solider's wife, because that affects good order and discipline. Do you want to have to deploy with someone who slept with your wife ?

Response by PO1 Michael Bruner made Jul 12 at 2016 11:48 AM

PO1 Michael Bruner — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 11:48:19 -0400

UCMJ-wise, the worst he's looking at is NJP & a one-paygrade reduction in rank. However, he's gotta deal w/ a pissed-off wife. Child support until the baby's 18. Not to mention "unofficial retribution" from officer husband of the woman he knocked up for at least the rest of his tour at his current duty station. If the officer in question is already a successful O-6, then the soldier could be potential harassed rest of his career.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2016 12:44 AM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:44:01 -0400

Adultery is punishable by reduction in rank half months pay times two

Response by SSgt Nicholas Merchant made Jul 13 at 2016 6:53 AM

SSgt Nicholas Merchant — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 06:53:19 -0400

As sad as this sounds it depends on how hes viewed by his superiors and if the officer is in the same unit or not.... the UCMJ unfortunately is left to superior officers to carry out thus allowing for interpretation it also depends on the officer whos wife cheated and the direct supervidor of the troop who cheated... the UCMJ has clear writing on cheating and even acceptable sexual positions the reason is simple while in the service we are expected to show honor integrity and discipline committing adultry goes against all... in my flight we had an unwritten rule that while any member was deployed the rest of our flight was expected to help the spous with shoveling or mowing, mowing anything really how can we do our jobs if were worried what might be happening at home... infedelity in the service has many ramifications

Response by SSG Mark Franzen made Jul 14 at 2016 7:52 PM

SSG Mark Franzen — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 19:52:42 -0400

I would think that He Or She should Be PUNISHED UNDER THE UCMJ AND SEPERATED FROM THE SERVICE.

Response by PO3 Estela Parham made Aug 15 at 2016 1:33 PM

PO3 Estela Parham — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:33:29 -0400

Take child support out of his pay check to go to the other woman's baby even if she is married the baby is still his.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 17 at 2020 11:59 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:59:55 -0500

I did an article 15 on a SSG in a similar situation. reduction in rank, loss of 1/2 months pay for 2 months, 45 days extra duty and 45 days restriction. Basically the max allowed for a field grade AR-15. As investigating officer, I recommended court martial but the CoC really liked this guy and it was his first offense of any kind. I was told that court martials for adultery when that is the only offense committed are virtually unheard-of.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 20 at 2021 8:40 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 20:40:26 -0500

UCMJ may be the least of his worries. The velvet glove has long reach. Without knowing more though, he may have done the Officer a favor.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 20 at 2021 10:26 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 22:26:16 -0500

Do you have an update to what ever happened?