Dereliction of duty
Encyclopedia
Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code
United States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...

 Title 10,892. Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties (or follow a given order) or has incapacitated himself in such a way that he cannot perform his duties. Incapacitation includes falling asleep while on-duty; getting drunk and being unable to perform his duties; or vacating his post contrary to regulations. Article 92 also applies to service members whose acts or omissions rise result in criminally negligent behavior. The first such case occurred during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when Army Air Force Lieutenants
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 William Sincock and Theodore Balides were court-martialed
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

 for dereliction of duty when they mistakenly dropped bombs on Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

, a city of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, which was a neutral country during that war. Both men were later acquitted.

Details

In the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice
Uniform Code of Military Justice
The Uniform Code of Military Justice , is the foundation of military law in the United States. It is was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitution in Article I, Section 8, which provides that "The Congress shall have Power . ....

 (UCMJ), dereliction of duty is addressed within the regulations governing the failure to obey an order or regulation.


§ 892. Art. 92. Failure to obey order or regulation
Any person subject to this chapter who—
...
(3) is derelict in the performance of his duties;
shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.


Punishment can include sanctions up to and including the death penalty (in times of war). Outside of wartime, the maximum punishment allowed is a Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year (10 years for service members receiving special pay under 37 USC 310).

Proving Dereliction

In order to prosecute a service member under Article 92, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the service member knew (or should have reasonably known) his duties and that he was either, through neglect or culpable inefficiency (i.e., being inefficient without just cause), derelict in the performance of those duties.

A duty is imposed in any one of the following ways:
  • via a treaty
    Treaty
    A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

    ,
  • statute,
  • regulation,
  • lawful order,
  • standard operating procedure, or
  • custom of the service


That the service member possessed actual knowledge of his duties may be proved via:
  • regulations,
  • training / operating manuals,
  • academic literature,
  • testimony of service members who held similar positions,
  • customs of the service

Sentinel / Lookout

UCMJ Article 113 ("Misbehavior of sentinel") includes components of behavior that are, in themselves, examples of dereliction of duty:
  1. Drunk while on post
  2. Sleeping while on post
  3. Leaving one's post without being properly relieved

Failure to Follow Instructions and Directives

Both a Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...

 and an Airman First Class
Airman First Class
Airman first class is the third enlisted rank in the United States Air Force, just above airman and below senior airman. The rank of airman first class is considered a junior enlisted rank, with the non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers above it.Airman first class is a...

 stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located to the southeast of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for Navy test pilot Seymour Johnson, a native of Goldsboro...

 had their pay reduced by $300 and $200 pay per month, respectively, for two months, when their actions resulted in a delayed launch and subsequent aircraft shutdown. They were found guilty of failing to follow Air Force Instruction 21-101, Air Force Policy Directive 31-3, and Technical Order 00-20-1. They were also given 14 days extra duty and had a reprimand inserted into their files.

Misuse of Government Property

An Airman First Class stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base was reduced to Airman
Airman
An airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force , it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank...

 when she received non-judicial punishment for dereliction of duty. She was found to have charged over $700 on her Travel Card for personal uses.

United States v. Allen Lawson 33 M.J. 946

In 1989, Marine Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...

 Jason Rother died on a desert exercise at 29 Palms, California. Lieutenant Allen Lawson was charged and convicted of dereliction of duty for disobeying orders (to submit a roster of posted marines and locations to his superior officer, Captain Edwards) and for failing to post two subordinates as a pair (as ordered by the battalion commander, Lt. Colonel Robeson).
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