UCMJ Article 105a: False or Unauthorized Pass Offenses
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Article 105a protects military and official passes, permits, discharge certificates, and identification cards. Making, altering, counterfeiting, tampering with, or selling a false or unauthorized one, or using or possessing one with intent to defraud or deceive, carries a dishonorable discharge and 3 years. Other cases, such as knowingly possessing one without that intent, carry a bad-conduct discharge and 6 months.
Making, selling, and using false passes and IDs
10 U.S.C. § 905a has three subsections:
| Subsection | Conduct | Knowledge required |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Wrongfully and falsely making, altering, counterfeiting, or tampering with the document | The Manual's elements add that the accused knew it was false or unauthorized |
| (b) | Wrongfully selling, giving, lending, or disposing of a false or unauthorized document | Knowing it is false or unauthorized |
| (c) | Wrongfully using or possessing a false or unauthorized document | Knowing it is false or unauthorized |
The article was added by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5416).
Which documents are covered
Under the Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 38.c(1), the protected category “includes, as well as the more usual forms of these documents, all documents issued by any governmental agency for the purpose of identification and copies thereof.” The article is not limited to a military ID card or a liberty pass; government-issued identification and copies of it fall within it.
The sale, use, and possession offenses reach documents that are “false or unauthorized,” two alternatives the statute names separately; the government must prove that the accused knew the document was one or the other.
Intent to defraud or deceive
For use or possession, the Manual adds a fourth element when the government alleges that the accused used or possessed the document “with intent to defraud or deceive” (¶ 38.b(3)(d)). Those intents carry their meanings from the bad-check paragraph: intent to defraud means intending to obtain something of value through a misrepresentation; intent to deceive means intending to mislead, cheat, or trick another to gain an advantage or cause a disadvantage (¶ 70.c(14)-(15)). Whether that element is charged and proved decides which maximum applies.
3 years for deceptive use, counterfeiting, or sale; 6 months otherwise
From ¶ 38.d:
| Offense | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Possessing or using with intent to defraud or deceive; or making, altering, counterfeiting, tampering with, or selling | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 3 years |
| All other cases | Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 6 months |
Selling falls in the higher tier; giving, lending, or otherwise disposing of the document without a sale falls in “all other cases.”
Forgery and impersonation
Falsely making a writing with legal effect, other than these documents, with intent to defraud is forgery under Article 105. Posing as an officer or official, rather than presenting a false document, is impersonation under Article 106.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 905a, Article 105a, False or unauthorized pass offenses (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 38 and ¶ 70.c(14)-(15)
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.