UCMJ Article 109: Wasting Or Spoiling Nonmilitary Property
What is Article 109 Of The UCMJ?
Article 109 of the UCMJ covers actions by service members that result in the willful or reckless wasting, spoiling, or damaging of nonmilitary property. Article 109a separately covers the taking, stealing, secreting, opening, and destroying of mail.
The UCMJ defines “waste” and “spoil” as to wrongfully and voluntarily destroy or permanently damage real property (, such as burning down buildings, burning piers, tearing down fences, or cutting down trees). It goes on to define “willfully” as intentionally or on purpose and it defines “recklessly” as a degree of carelessness greater than simple negligence.
The most important thing that you can understand about Article 109 of the UCMJ is that if the military justice system is bringing charges against you or you are being investigated, then an unfair fight is about to descend upon you. The military justice system is going to try and make an example out of you and if you don’t fight back, they may take everything from you. So, let’s take a closer look at what they will be bringing and get you ready for the fight.
What Specific Charges Can Be Brought Against Me Under Article 109?
Charges under article 109 might seem mundane, i.e. tearing down fences or cutting down trees, but you have to understand why the military justice system exists to understand how dangerous these charges can be. The military justice system does not exist for the purpose of pursuing justice. The military justice system exists to preserve order and discipline within the ranks and or that to work, it requires that service members are made an example of to others.
Meaning, they have to destroy someone to scare others into compliance and if you don’t fight back, they will make that example out of you. With each charge, the prosecution must satisfy specific elements to find you guilty and we’ll list those below along with their corresponding maximum punishments.
Wasting Or Spoiling Nonmilitary Property - For a service member to be found guilty, the prosecution must satisfy the following three elements:
(1) The accused willfully or recklessly wasted or spoiled the real property alleged.
(2) The property belonged to another person.
(3) The government must prove its value.
Maximum Punishment: Value of $1,000 or less comes with a bad conduct discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 1 year confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Value of over $1,000 comes with a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 5 years confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Destroying Or Damaging Nonmilitary Property - For a service member to be found guilty, the prosecution must satisfy the following three elements:
(1) The accused willfully and wrongfully damaged or destroyed the personal property alleged.
(2) The property belonged to another person.
(3) The government must prove the property’s value or the amount of damage, as applicable.
Maximum Punishment: Value of $1,000 or less comes with a bad conduct discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 1 year confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Value of over $1,000 comes with a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 5 years confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Article 109a: Mail (Taking) - For a service member to be found guilty, the prosecution must satisfy the following four elements:
(1) The accused took mail addressed to another person.
(2) The taking was wrongful.
(3) It occurred before the mail was delivered to or received by the addressee.
(4) The accused intended to obstruct the correspondence or pry into the business or secrets of a person or organization.
Maximum Punishment: Dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 5 years confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Article 109a: Mail (Opening, Secreting, Or Destroying) - For a service member to be found guilty, the prosecution must satisfy the following three elements:
(1) The accused opened, secreted, or destroyed the mail alleged.
(2) The conduct was wrongful.
(3) It occurred before the mail was delivered to or received by the addressee.
Maximum Punishment: Dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 5 years confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Article 109a: Mail (Stealing) - For a service member to be found guilty, the prosecution must satisfy the following three elements:
(1) The accused stole the mail alleged.
(2) The stealing was wrongful.
(3) It occurred before the mail was delivered to or received by the addressee.
Maximum Punishment: Dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances,
5 years confinement and reduction in rank to E-1.
Sentencing Guidelines
The confinement ranges below are sentencing parameters, not the maximum punishment for every offense in the category. They apply in noncapital general and special courts-martial when all offenses of conviction were committed on or after 28 December 2023. The lawful maximum for the particular offense and the limits of the court-martial still control. A military judge may depart from a parameter when specific facts justify doing so, and the record must contain a written statement explaining the factual basis. The property or mail offense actually charged determines its maximum. A category range does not increase a lower maximum for that offense.
| Offense | Maximum confinement | Category or criteria | Confinement range in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waste, spoilage, destruction or damage of property other than U.S. military property; applicable value or damage $1,000 or less | 1 year | Category 1 | 0–12 |
| The same offense; applicable value or damage more than $1,000 | 5 years | Category 2 | 1–36 |
| Article 109a: wrongful taking, opening, secreting, destroying or stealing mail matter | 5 years | Category 2 | 1–36 |
Reduction to E-1 applies to enlisted personnel. Dismissal, rather than a dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, is the authorized punitive separation for commissioned officers, including commissioned warrant officers, and cadets and midshipmen. The authorized punishment also depends on the offense date and court-martial forum.
Facing an Allegation?
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How To Fight Back and Beat Charges Under Article 109 of the UCMJ?
When it comes to wasting or spoiling nonmilitary property, there is always more to the story than the prosecution would like to acknowledge. No service member is sitting in his barracks and suddenly gets the urge to burn down a building or knock down a fence. When it comes to mishandling mail, service members typically are not running a covert mail package theft cartel. No, it’s more like something strange happened and stuff got damaged. Someone delivered mail to the wrong barracks and now military investigators think they just caught Al Capone.
Because the prosecution is under pressure to produce their “examples”, they’ll come at you with everything they have. That’s why we put together our own investigation. We don’t assume the military investigators followed the proper methods of gathering the evidence and we don’t let the prosecution’s witnesses off the hook. Regardless of their rank, we will absolutely shred their witnesses on the stand.
Fight For Your Military Career And Your Freedom
We are not going to let them take your career, retirement, or even your freedom because you accidently drove your motorcycle into someone’s fence off base. We’re not going to let them take you out of the fight for our nation just because you opened someone else's mail. We’re not going to let them inflate the value of the damages just so they can stick you with a dishonorable discharge. We are going to fight them at every turn and cede nothing to the prosecution.
If you are under investigation or facing a court martial under Article 109, please don’t let the seemingly trivial nature of these charges lull you into complacency. A bad conduct discharge will still follow you after you leave the service. Not to mention that if the prosecution senses a lack of fight in you, they’ll take that opportunity to secure one of their “max punishment examples” just to scare everyone else. Do not let them make an example of you. Present yourself a harder target and let them make that example out of the next guy.
Reach out to us for a free consultation and we’ll shoot you straight on exactly what you are facing. We’ll map out a plan and as long as you are willing to fight for your career, retirement, and freedom, so are we. We’ll punch back and give the military justice system the fight they never wanted.
Browse More Articles of the UCMJ
Article 108: Military Property Of The U.S., Sale, Loss, Damage, Destruction, Or Wrongful Disposition