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According to Article 2 of UCMJ, "Retired members of a regular component of the armed forces who are entitled to pay" are covered by UCMJ. Does this mean that retirees can be charged with UCMJ violations even long after retirement and when not doing anything related to the military? Has this ever happened?
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/ucmjsubject.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/ucmjsubject.htm
Retired
Retirement
UCMJ
JAG
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 388
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Short answer, yes. When I was the Mobilization Officer at Fort Jackson a few years ago, we had to transition a SSG out of the IRR after his case was overturned. The SJA wanted to retry the case, which required the SSG to return to active duty.
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Great amount of info here without a dead on answer. Exactly what I'd expect to hear in a barracks. What is sad is the number of comments offering sympathy for the lawbreakers and especially the overwraught concern about 'double jeopardy'. The bottom line is 'was justice done'? If the person's lawyers can't make a case for double jeopardy I doubt a three sentence explanation on RP makes it either.
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CWO3 (Join to see)
SFC Freddie Porter - I like your answer. Simple and to the point. I've been retired now for 23 years and I haven't had any problems with either the UCMJ or any Civil matter. If you were good on active duty as a Soldier, Marine, Sailor, Airmen and Coast Guards Men and Women, then retired I would think that you would definitely understand by now what the ramifications are with not conforming to the UCMJ and our civil laws.
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CWO2 Shelby DuBois
SFC Freddie Porter - It took two cups of coffee but I got through it! Good response and I appreciate the knowledge. I agree with Jim... ignorance is no excuse. Good day, Gents!
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SFC Freddie Porter
Thanks for the notes. I appreciate the chance to shoot the breeze with reasonable people knowing we will disagree on subjects or points. I just finished a "discussion" with a first class dick head and Ive got a case of the ass right now so, our conversation is a good breath of freak hair and a good moment in time.
Now, that said, if I had taken the time to review my subject matter, I would have correctly written the name of the legal doctrine controlling this subject. It is called the Doctrine of Seperate or Duel, Sovereigns. The correct way of stating this is, the military is seen as a separate or duel sovereign from the federal government and each sovereign has a right to establish and enforce its own criminal laws. (Same explanation as before, just the correct name of the legal theory).
Again, thanks for your openness and friendliness. It's appreciated right now at this particular moment.
Now, that said, if I had taken the time to review my subject matter, I would have correctly written the name of the legal doctrine controlling this subject. It is called the Doctrine of Seperate or Duel, Sovereigns. The correct way of stating this is, the military is seen as a separate or duel sovereign from the federal government and each sovereign has a right to establish and enforce its own criminal laws. (Same explanation as before, just the correct name of the legal theory).
Again, thanks for your openness and friendliness. It's appreciated right now at this particular moment.
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It has alo occured when crimes committed durring active service come to light. There have been cases of soldiers broughy bavk on active duty for sexual assault as well as misconduct.
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Not just retirees. As I understand it, anyone who signed a contract (reserve, active, enlisted, or officer) can be recalled to duty if the government wants to prosecute under UCMJ, including those with OTH discharges.
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COL Brian Shea
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, but have some experience with military justice. I heard some time ago that once an enlistment contract ends, as long as there is a break in service, an EM cannot be charged under the UCMJ for offenses that occurred during the previous enlistment. I will let the JAG types comment further. Different rules for retirees, consecutive contracts, etc. So if PFC Snuffy steals his buddy's TA50 then his contract ends and he doesn't re-up, the military can't touch him. The Feds, I.e., FBI, probably can though.
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COL Brian Shea
Hey - it made me sleep better back in my early EM days. :). Of course, one of the variables is if Snuffy still has time left in the IRR and has just left AD, his contract isn't up yet.
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Patrick J Salem
In the old days, IRR was not that serious, but since the GWOT, if they need you, you're getting orders.
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The answer, in most cases, is no. There is no need, for example, for the military to pull you back on active duty for rape ... because that is a criminal offense in the Civilian World. You will be tried as a Civilian. If your crime was committed while you were on active duty however (i.e. before you retired), you will be pulled back onto active duty and tried. There are all kinds of complications that arise if the military attempts to pull you back onto active duty, from jurisdiction to evidence - imagine being pulled back to Fort Bragg for a crime that happened in Montana? It is the same reason that you will be pulled back onto active duty if that is where and when the crime happened. How would the Montana police gather evidence of what you did at Fort Bragg? It just wouldn't make sense in either case. The exception to this would be rules governing violations of your security clearance. The military can, and will, pull you back to hold you accountable for that.
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I'd like to ask a question of the group: If retirees are subject to the UCMJ and it seems we are, may retirees still give orders? For example, may I as a retired officer, order a junior ranking service member to do something?
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MSG (Join to see)
Only if it is officals business, you can not if you are not in a capacity of that officals business, meaning if you are at a job with a fellow retiree not in officals capacity also if they are and you are not you can not just walk up to them and say hey you go do this
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MSG (Join to see)
Also would help with knowing the situation to which you are referring to, also remember that there are also 2 types of retirement perm and temp when it refers to medical reasons
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LTC Paul Labrador
Being retired, you still hold your commission, but are essentially permanently in inactive reserve status. meaning, you do not hold command authority.
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CWO3 (Join to see)
Yes, they're two different types of retired/retainer pay. The retainer pay is for one who served 20 years but not the full 30 years. Especially enlisted personnel. They are transferred to the Reserve until at such time they have met their 30 year requirements by Title 10. The other is Physically Evaluation Board (PEB). If a military member is found unfit for duty due to any disabilities that occurred during active duty, then they may or may not go before their respective PEB. They can either be permanent or temporaryly discharged. As Officers of the Armed Forces, we either are retired or not. We are all under the UCMJ jurisdiction no matter what.
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The bottom line up front is Yes, a retired active service member can be court martialed. That said, the crime is usually one that relates directly to the military in some capacity such working as a contractor in a war zone and committing the crime of murder against someone. The retirees crime can reasonably be associated with military service. Otherwise, JAG already has a lot on their plate
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Wouldn't it depend on how you are retired I was physically retired disable so they can't call me back
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What about insubordination due to comments made about the US government or military officials?
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