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offense, and shall be punished at the discre-
tion of that court.
Article 134 makes punishable acts or omissions
not specifically mentioned in other articles. They
include wearing an improper uniform, abusive use
of a military vehicle, the careless discharge of a
firearm, and impersonating an officer. They also
include offenses involving official passes, permits,
and certificates, and the wrongful possession of
a habit-forming narcotic drug.
“Discredit” means to injure the reputation of;
that is, to bring the service into disrepute.
Examples include acts in violation of state or
foreign laws, failure to pay one’s debts, adultery,
bigamy, and indecent acts.
Crimes and offenses not capital include those
acts or omissions, not punishable by another
article, denounced as crimes or offenses by enact-
ments of Congress or under authority of Congress
and made triable in the federal civil courts. Cer-
tain of such offenses are made punishable
wherever committed; others are punishable only
if committed within the geographical boundaries
of the areas in which they are applicable.
Art. 137. Articles To Be Explained
Articles 2, 3, 7-15, 25, 27, 31, 37, 38,
55, 77-134 and 137-139 of this code shall
be carefully explained to each enlisted
member at the time of his entrance on
active duty, or within six days thereafter.
They shall be explained again after he has
completed six months of active duty, and
again at the time when he reenlists. A
complete text of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice and of the regulations
prescribed by the President thereunder
shall be made available to any person on
active duty upon his request, for his per-
sonal examination.
Art. 138. Complaints of Wrongs
Any member of the armed forces who
believes himself wronged by his command-
ing officer, and who, upon due application
to that commanding officer, is refused
redress, may complain to any superior
commissioned officer, who shall forward
the complaint to the officer exercising
general court-martial jurisdiction over the
officer against whom it is made. The
officer exercising general court-martial
jurisdiction shall examine into the com-
plaint and take proper measures for
redressing the wrong complained of; and
he shall, as soon as possible, send to the
Secretary concerned a true statement of
that complaint, with the proceedings had
thereon.
This article provides for redress of wrongs
inflicted by a commanding officer on subor-
dinates, and it prescribes the procedure to be
followed by subordinates to apply for such
redress.
Art. 139. Redress of Injuries to Property
(a) Whenever complaint is made to any
commanding officer that willful damage
has been done to the property of any
person or that his property has been
wrongfully taken by members of the armed
forces, he may, under such regulations as
the Secretary concerned may prescribe,
convene a board to investigate the com-
plaint. The board shall consist of from one
to three commissioned officers and, for the
purpose of that investigation, it has power
to summon witnesses and examine them
upon oath, to receive depositions or other
documentary evidence, and to assess the
damages sustained against the responsible
parties. The assessment of damages made
by the board is subject to the approval of
the commanding officer, and in the
amount approved by him shall be charged
against the pay of the offenders. The order
of the commanding officer directing
charges herein authorized is conclusive on
any disbursing officer for the payment by
him to the injured parties of the damages
so assessed and approved.
(b) If the offenders cannot be ascer-
tained, but the organization or detachment
to which they belong is known, charges
totaling the amount of damages assessed
and approved may be made in such
proportion as maybe considered just upon
the individual members thereof who are
shown to have been present at the scene at
the time the damages complained of were
inflicted, as determined by the approved
findings of the board.
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