UCMJ Article 89: Disrespect Toward and Assault of a Superior Commissioned Officer

Article 89 contains two offenses with very different stakes. Disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer carries a bad-conduct discharge and up to 1 year if the officer is superior in command, or 6 months if superior only in rank. Striking, raising a weapon against, or offering violence to a superior commissioned officer in the execution of office carries a dishonorable discharge and 10 years, and in time of war, death.

Two subsections of § 889

10 U.S.C. § 889 has two subsections:

• (a) Disrespect: a person subject to the UCMJ “who behaves with disrespect toward that person’s superior commissioned officer.”
• (b) Assault: a person “who strikes that person’s superior commissioned officer or draws or lifts up any weapon or offers any violence against that officer while the officer is in the execution of the officer’s office.” In time of war the punishment may be death; at any other time, any punishment other than death.

Before January 1, 2019, striking or assaulting a superior commissioned officer was part of Article 90. The Military Justice Act of 2016 moved it here (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5408).

A “superior commissioned officer” is “a commissioned officer superior in rank or command” (10 U.S.C. § 801(5), quoted in the Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 15.c(1)).

Disrespect: elements and limits

Under ¶ 15.b(1), the government must prove that the accused did or omitted certain acts, or used certain language, to or concerning a commissioned officer; that the behavior was directed toward that officer; that the officer was the accused’s superior; that the accused knew it; and that the behavior was disrespectful under the circumstances.

Paragraph 15.c(2) explains the offense:

• What it is. Behavior “which detracts from the respect due the authority and person of a superior commissioned officer,” by acts or language. It does not matter whether the words refer to the superior as an officer or as a private person.
• Examples. Abusive epithets or contemptuous language; neglecting the customary salute; marked disdain, indifference, insolence, impertinence, undue familiarity, or other rudeness in the officer’s presence.
• Truth is no defense. An accurate insult is still disrespect.
• Presence. The behavior need not occur in the officer’s presence, but ordinarily a person should not be held accountable “for what was said or done in a purely private conversation.”
• Knowledge. If the accused did not know the person was a superior commissioned officer, there is no conviction under this article.

The unprotected victim. An officer whose conduct toward the accused “departs substantially from the required standards appropriate to that officer’s rank or position under similar circumstances loses the protection of this article,” and the accused may not be convicted of disrespect toward that officer (¶ 15.c(2)(d)).

Assault: what each verb covers

Under ¶ 15.b(2), the officer must have been the accused’s superior, the accused must have known it, and the officer must have been in the execution of office. Paragraph 15.c(3) defines the conduct:

• Strikes: “an intentional contact,” including “any offensive touching of the person of an officer, however slight.”
• Draws or lifts up any weapon against: drawing a weapon aggressively, or raising or brandishing it threateningly, in the presence of and at the superior. Raising a firearm in a threatening manner counts “whether or not loaded.”
• Offers any violence against: any other battery or assault; if not carried out, the violence must be physically attempted or menaced. “A mere threatening in words is not an offering of violence.”

An officer is in the execution of office when engaged in any act or service required or authorized by treaty, statute, regulation, a superior’s order, or military usage. Violence against a superior by someone over whom that officer has a duty to maintain discipline at the time is generally treated as violence against the officer in the execution of office, and a commanding officer aboard ship or of a unit in the field is generally considered on duty at all times (¶ 15.c(3)(f)).

Defenses. It is a defense that the accused acted in the proper discharge of a duty, or that the officer lost the article’s protection. If the officer started an unlawful attack, the officer loses Article 89’s protection, and self-defense may excuse a lesser assault depending on the circumstances (¶ 15.c(3)(g)).

Six months to death: the four tiers

From ¶ 15.d:

Offense	Maximum
Disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer in command	Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 1 year
Disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer superior in rank	Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 6 months
Assault on a superior commissioned officer in the execution of office, in time of war	Death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct
Assault on a superior commissioned officer in the execution of office, at any other time	Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 10 years

The wartime assault offense is capital, so the general rule that a military judge sets the sentence for offenses after December 27, 2023 does not govern a death sentence; in a capital case, the members decide on death under 10 U.S.C. § 853(c).

Related articles

An assault on a commissioned officer who is not in the execution of office is charged under Article 128, with a maximum of a dishonorable discharge and 3 years (¶ 77.d). Disrespect toward or assault of a warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer falls under Article 91. Willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer’s order is Article 90.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 889, Article 89, Disrespect toward superior commissioned officer; assault of superior commissioned officer (Cornell LII)
• 10 U.S.C. § 853, Article 53, Findings and sentencing (Cornell LII)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 15

General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.