Sex offender registration can affect where you live, work and attend school long after a court-martial ends. Before you make a decision about a plea or trial strategy, your lawyer should examine the specific offense, the date of the alleged conduct and the registration laws that may apply to you.
The current DoD instruction directs service members convicted of covered offenses to register in the relevant jurisdiction when released from confinement, or upon conviction if they are not confined. DoD’s covered-offense tables distinguish different versions of the UCMJ. The jurisdiction where you live, work or attend school may also require registration for an offense outside those tables. A reference to an old DoD list does not answer the question for a current case.
Registration is a consequence of the conviction, and its treatment at sentencing has limits. In United States v. Talkington, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces held that an accused may address registration in an unsworn statement, but a military judge may instruct members essentially to disregard that collateral consequence when deciding the sentence. That is different from a right to say anything without limits or to require the sentencing authority to reduce a sentence because registration will follow.
If you are facing a charge that may carry registration consequences, Bilecki Law Group can examine those consequences with you as part of the defense. The answer should come from the law applicable to your offense and circumstances, not a general assurance about what happens in every case.