Why is adultery a crime in the military?

Well the thesaurus says 'adultery' is synonymous with unfaithful, disloyal and falseness. No one is perfect and mistakes happen but to have the mindset there is nothing wrong with being unfaithful, disloyal and false, I'd say their morals don't match up with mine.

I certainly don't want to serve alongside someone who is disloyal to someone they loved enough to marry. How disloyal would they be to me?

I am so sorry Bob.

I’ve been riddled with guilt and I have to confess. I have been tapping your wife, day and night when you’re not around. I’m not getting it at home, but that’s no excuse. I can no longer live with the guilt and I hope you will accept my sincerest apology with my promise that it won’t happen again.

Bob, feeling anguished and betrayed, went into his bedroom, grabbed his gun, and without a word, shot and killed his wife.

A few moments later, a second text came in:

Damn autocorrect. I meant “wifi,” not “wife.”

I hate to break out the Army Values but it's a simple explanation.

Loyalty, Respect, Honor, Integrity.

You're breaking each of those values when you either cheat on your spouse or knowingly have a relationship with someone else's spouse.

SFC Thomas,

By your initial post and most of your responses, it appears you're looking for validation for either a personal adulterous affair or a friend's affair...either way, you're not going to receive validation from a professional group; it goes against the Army Values.

I feel like I may have shared this story on here before, but if so, oh well, I'll share it again. I served 4 years. I left after 4 years because the military "lifestyle" wasn't for me. While I know better than to stereotype every servicemember, I will say that MY chain of command, for the most part, was worthless. Completely worthless. 11 years later, working very successfully in the civilian world, I still feel this way.

One such reason that my chain of command was worthless was that we had a LPO (PO1) who reported to the ship from a previous command. He was a newly wed to a girl who he married "only because" he got her pregnant, and this was after a quick divorce from a previous wife (his words, not ours).

Since he was new onboard the ship, there was a certain girl on the ship who had "that" reputation, and everyone saw it. She had her eyes on him. We all warned him of her. He didn't listen. So, without going into all the drama, I'll let your imagination run wild because you probably wouldn't be wrong with your assumptions.

I will say that as a 19-20-21 year old junior sailor, it was VERY difficult for me to respect this piece of TRASH first class petty officer. How could I, in good conscience, trust a word that came out of his lying mouth, when I knew that his personal life was a complete mess? Mind you, my age, and my upbringing (southern bible belt) I didn't believe in a grey world back then. You were either a good moral person, or you weren't. This guy was not. He cheated on his first wife and got another woman pregnant. Married her, reported to another ship, met the questionable girl on the new ship and continued to make bad choices despite the warnings of those of us who told him to stay away from said girl.

I was young. Professionally, I did not have the ability to separate the two. He was a dirtbag in his personal life. I judged his character, and I didnt trust him as my LPO. I knew well enough to "play the military game" and say "aye aye, petty officer" when he told me to do something." but that was it.

So.... I say all that to say that is huge. And it makes me so angry that adultery is against the UCMJ but it gets swept under the rug so easily in order to salvage one's career. You know what? Don't make a stupid choice. It's really quite simple. I made a dumb choice once. I went to Captains Mast. I got busted, and I served my sentence. I didn't make that mistake again. Most leaders screw up. They learn from those mistakes and they move on. They become stronger leaders. The ones who get away with those mistakes do not become stronger leaders though. They become cowards who are in the good old boy network who are protected and showed favoritism, and THAT is a big problem.

Adultry is adultry, regardless if it is SM and civ or SM and SM.

Bottom line is that it is unprofessional and goes against good moral standards. That is the Army answer as well as what I was taught growing up.

SFC Desmond T,

Because when we are deployed or held as a POW abroad for a long period of time we don't want our spouses poached by our colleagues or their spouses.

Warmest Regards, Sandy

A married Soldier having sex with another Soldier (not their spouse) is no different than a married Soldier having sex with a Civilian (not their spouse).

As of 2014, adultery is a criminal offense in 21 states. I'm not sure of your religious preference, but to Christians, adultery is considered immoral and a sin. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is one of the ten commandments.

Army Values include Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Honor, and Integrity. I can't imagine why any of those would not carry over to the vows of a Soldier to their spouse upon marriage.

I believe the question was "why is adultery a crime in the military"? Without even giving a personal response . . . I am curious if all stated above is more than enough???

Maybe the REAL question should be:

"Why do Soldiers violate the UCMJ and commit adultery in the military...I mean, they KNOW right from wrong, correct?"

In the civilian world you don't have to worry about the good order and discipline of a unit. From that sense it is necessary that adultery be considered a crime. But also note that you never (rarely) see adultery prosecuted unless it is in conjunction with another crime (rape) or it has an actual impact on the unit.