UCMJ Article 93a: Prohibited Activities With a Military Recruit or Trainee
On this page
Article 93a makes it a crime for a trainer or recruiter to engage in “prohibited sexual activity” with a recruit, trainee, cadet, officer candidate, or applicant, and the statute says outright that consent is not a defense. The maximum is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 5 years of confinement. What counts as prohibited activity is defined by each service’s regulations, not by the statute alone.
Two relationships, one rule on consent
10 U.S.C. § 893a has two offenses:
- Abuse of a training leadership position (§ 893a(a)): an officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer in a training leadership position with respect to a specially protected junior member engages in prohibited sexual activity with that member.
- Abuse of position as a military recruiter (§ 893a(b)): a military recruiter engages in prohibited sexual activity with an applicant for military service, or with a specially protected junior member enlisted under a delayed entry program.
Subsection (c) is one sentence: “Consent is not a defense for any conduct at issue in a prosecution under this section (article).”
The article was added by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5410), whose punitive-article changes took effect January 1, 2019.
Who is protected and who is covered
The definitions in § 893a(d) set the article’s reach:
| Term | Statutory meaning |
|---|---|
| Specially protected junior member | A member assigned to or awaiting basic training or other initial active duty for training, including a member enlisted under a delayed entry program; a cadet, midshipman, officer candidate, or student in any other officer qualification program; or a member in a program identified by service regulation as training for initial career qualification |
| Training leadership position | A drill instructor or other leadership position in basic training, officer candidate school, a ROTC unit, a training program for entry into the armed forces, or a regulation-designated initial career qualification program; and faculty and staff of the Military, Naval, Air Force, and Coast Guard Academies |
| Applicant for military service | A person who, under service regulations, is an applicant for original enlistment or appointment |
| Military recruiter | A person who, under service regulations, has the primary duty to recruit persons for military service |
| Prohibited sexual activity | "Inappropriate physical intimacy under circumstances described in" regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned |
Rank, knowledge, and the training relationship
The Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 20.b, adds two points to the statute’s elements. For both offenses the accused must have been a commissioned, warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer. And the accused must have known the other person was a specially protected junior member or an applicant; under ¶ 20.c(3), that knowledge may be “actual or constructive” and may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
Paragraph 20.c(2) narrows the offense in three ways. Each service decides by regulation which relationships fall inside and outside it. “Not all contact or associations are prohibited by this article.” And the offense covers “only activity occurring when there is a training or recruiting relationship between the accused and the alleged victim.” Service regulations must also account for relationships that already existed, such as a marriage. Because the regulation defines the prohibited activity, the applicable service regulation at the time of the conduct is part of the case.
Article 93a maximum, and why it is not a covered offense
Under ¶ 20.d, the maximum is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.
Article 93a is not a “covered offense” under 10 U.S.C. § 801(17), which does not list section 893a. Special trial counsel does not have automatic authority over an Article 93a charge on that basis alone; if the same facts support an offense under Article 120, that offense is covered.
Related articles
When the conduct also involves force, threats, fear, or an inability to consent, the Article 120 offenses of rape and sexual assault can apply, and under Article 120 the abuse of rank or position can itself supply the “fear” element. Mistreatment of a subordinate that is not sexual activity falls under Article 93, cruelty and maltreatment. Violating a service regulation on trainee relationships that does not meet the Article 93a definition can be charged as a failure to obey a lawful general regulation under Article 92.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 893a, Article 93a, Prohibited activities with military recruit or trainee by person in position of special trust (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. § 801, Article 1, Definitions, paragraph (17) (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 20
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.