Posted on Jun 23, 2015
LTC Yinon Weiss
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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
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Responses: 388
LT Ed Skiba
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Good I do. Thanks.
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SGT Martha Cain
SGT Martha Cain
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I do
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MAJ Ron Peery
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Those of us who are receiving retirement pay understand that it is not actually retirement, but a retainer for future service, should that be necessary. As for the rest, I'm not a lawyer so I won't argue the main point in your question. It's an interesting discussion though.
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SSG Shawn Mcfadden
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Retirees are indeed subject to the UCMJ! Flynn is included IN THIS!!
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SFC Joseph Behmke
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Yes!
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LtCol Lieutenant Colonel
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Yes. Often only exercised in cases where offenses occurred while on active duty or where civil authorities can’t reach the misconduct because of some jurisdictional defect, statute of limitations, etc. This authority is used VERY rarely and requires Secretarial approval.
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SSgt Daniel d'Errico
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Unfortunetly, this is a fact. We retirees are still subject to punishment under the UCMJ. If you want to know which articles still apply to retire persons,contàct the cĺòsess base JAG office.
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SSG Paul Passineau
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On 22FEB2019, The United States Supreme upheld The Department of Defense's authority to allowed
retired military service members to be Court Martial. The U.S.S.C. denied a retired Marine SSG to petition the court for criminal activity conducted after the individual was retired. Case was Larrabee v. United States.
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SGT Martha Cain
SGT Martha Cain
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True
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SGT John Peacock
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In my experience with military legal, typically the only time the military will "reach out" & grab a retiree is when a serious violation of the UCMJ is discovered to have taken place during the time that the retiree was on active duty, and that the retiree meets all the criteria for indictment under an Article 32 investigation. A 15-6 investigation can be used as an initiating circumstance/triggering event, to warrant an Article 32 investigation. Most other crimes are typically handled by appropriate city, state or federal authority depending on the nature of said crime and that it was not committed while the retiree was on active duty. The 1 exception is if the nature of the crime is something so serious so as to bring discredit upon the service as a whole. Such a crime would likely be pursued by all levels including active component service branch, such as rape committed by Marines on Okinawa which caused the locals to push for the Marine base to be removed from the island.
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SA Ronald Moss
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Personally, I have no problem with being under the UCMJ for life even though I'm retired, as I had no problem being under it while on active duty. I signed up in the USCG and never claimed to say I now consider myself no longer my oath when I enlisted. I am a Coastie for life, and If I am guilty of something covered by the UCMJ, I should be punished for it.
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SFC Volunteer For Veterans Help Organization
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...of a regular component. Does that include members retired from a Reserve Component?
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SFC Volunteer For Veterans Help Organization
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I thought so, just wanted to make sure I was right.
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