UCMJ Article 109: Waste, Spoilage, or Destruction of Non-Military Property
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Article 109 protects property that is not military property: other people’s land, buildings, cars, and belongings. Willfully or recklessly wasting or spoiling real property, or willfully and wrongfully damaging or destroying personal property, carries a bad-conduct discharge and 1 year at $1,000 or less, and a dishonorable discharge and 5 years above $1,000. Damage caused by simple carelessness is outside the article.
Text of Article 109
Any person subject to this chapter who willfully or recklessly wastes, spoils, or otherwise willfully and wrongfully destroys or damages any property other than military property of the United States shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Source: 10 U.S.C. § 909.
Three offenses, two kinds of property
The Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 45, divides the statute by the kind of property and the state of mind:
| Offense | Property | State of mind |
|---|---|---|
| Wasting or spoiling | Real property of another | Willful or reckless |
| Damaging | Personal property of another | Willful and wrongful |
| Destroying | Personal property of another | Willful and wrongful |
Wasting or spoiling means wrongful acts of voluntary destruction of, or permanent damage to, real property, “as burning down buildings, burning piers, tearing down fences, or cutting down trees.” It is punishable whether done intentionally, recklessly, or “through a culpable disregard of the foreseeable consequences of some voluntary act” (¶ 45.c(1)).
Destroying or damaging personal property requires that the act be willful, meaning intentional, and wrongful, meaning “contrary to law, regulation, lawful order, or custom.” Property is destroyed when it is “sufficiently injured to be useless for its intended purpose,” even if not demolished; damage is “any physical injury to the property.” Willfulness may be proved by circumstantial evidence, such as the manner in which the acts were done (¶ 45.c(2)).
Recklessness is therefore enough for real property, but damage to someone’s car or phone must be intentional.
How value and damage are measured
For destruction, the value of the property controls the maximum. For damage, the amount of damage controls, and as a general rule it is “the estimated or actual cost of repair by artisans employed in this work who are available to the community wherein the owner resides, or the replacement cost, whichever is less” (¶ 45.c(3)). A key-scratched door panel on an expensive car is measured by the local repair cost, not by the car’s value.
The $1,000 line: 1 year or 5 years
From ¶ 45.d:
| Offense | $1,000 or less | More than $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Wasting or spoiling real property | Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 1 year | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 5 years |
| Damaging non-military property | Same | Same |
| Destroying non-military property | Same | Same |
Military property and arson
Article 109 and Article 108 divide property by ownership. Article 108 covers military property and reaches negligent loss or damage; Article 109 does not punish negligence for personal property. Damage by fire to a dwelling or structure can be charged as arson under Article 126, which carries up to 25 years for aggravated arson.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 909, Article 109, Property other than military property of United States: waste, spoilage, or destruction (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 45
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.