Are retirees subject to UCMJ?

Don’t know if any remember this but there was an Army Master Sgt who was retired and brought back in active duty to face a Court Martial for the murder of an AF Officers wife. This was because he couldn’t be tried in civilian court due to double jeapordy.

if the gov wants you bad enough

Sp4 Byron Skinner…A very interesting question. Unfortunately I don’t think enough information is to determine if the crime could be adjudicated in a Military Courts Marshall of a Civilian Court. Two critical pieces of information are missing first when did the crime take place, before or after leaving the military and did it happen on Federal Government property.

This also includes disabled Retired Veterans from what I was told as well..

I would think not likely if it occurred after retirement and especially after your ready reserve committment. There are also a lot of articles that by their nature are active duty. I cant be ordered to do something or be held to something like missed movement right? A military lawyer once told me everything is "testable" in court so its hard to give a definite on a lot of things. But I think we are talking about serious crimes that would go straight to court martial that violate civil law as well as the ucmj. So i would think you are probably talking crimes rather than violations--but im no lawyer ha ha :)

Retired Members CAN be charged and tried for certain violations, per the U.S. Supreme Court.
Like any charge, there are statute of limitations except for capital crimes. You can also be tried in a Military court for something you do as a civilian once retired as you still take retired pay and that make you affiliated with the Military. That being said, the chance are slim for minor crimes.

If a retiree commits a crime under military jurisdiction they can be brought back to active service to face charges.

I a case like this if it is something that happened under military jurisdiction you can be brought out of retirement or back to active duty to face charges. If it happened off base in civilian jurisdiction most likely the military will allow the civilian courts to handle it. That said if the victim(s) were military or dependents then the military may seek jurisdiction.

Short answer is yes. Then it gets complicated. COL Williams separately covers it nicely. I would add, that this mechanism facilitates the recall to active duty should one not wish to accept for unacceptable reasons. It also gives the military a hook to grab someone who was chargeable for such things as bribery, felonies related to treatment of subordinates or national security breaches. Generally, federal courts would be the preferred venue, but the military’s ability to grab and prosecute what appears to be a malefactor that is not otherwise held accountable is in my mind a good thing. The down side is that some may feel that their 1st amendment rights could be curtailed. I am not aware of this happening, but that does not exclude anything. Great question.

Very interesting. Personally I had always believed after the 30-year mark we were off the hook altogether. I do also recall reading something when I retired, that stuck in my mind, if incarcerated, military pension and VA benefits can be reduced or frozen while incarcerated, with no back pay once released. I dont recall the exact wording, I just figured if I continue to keep my nose clean, I wont have to worry too much about it. I just hope they dont show up to my door to do a BMI, I am screwed then.