What Happens If You Leak Classified Information in the Military
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A service member who discloses classified or national defense information can face two very different sets of charges, and the line between them is the recipient and the intent. Espionage under Article 103a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or 18 U.S.C. 794 in federal court, requires delivery to a foreign government or its agents with intent or reason to believe the information will injure the United States or help a foreign nation. It is punishable by any term up to life, and by death in specified categories. Unauthorized disclosure that goes to someone else, such as the press or a person without clearance, is charged under other provisions: 18 U.S.C. 793, the computer-access offense in Article 123, unauthorized removal under 18 U.S.C. 1924, or violation of handling regulations under Article 92. Those carry maximums measured in years.
Espionage: Article 103a
The military espionage statute is now Article 103a, 10 U.S.C. 903a. It was enacted as Article 106a (10 U.S.C. 906a) on November 8, 1985, and renumbered 903a by the Military Justice Act of 2016, effective January 1, 2019. The current Article 106a covers wearing unauthorized insignia.
The Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, paragraph 32, lists the elements:
- The accused “communicated, delivered, or transmitted” a document or “information relating to the national defense”.
- It went “to any foreign government, or to any faction or party or military or naval force within a foreign country,” or to a representative, agent, subject, or citizen of one, “either directly or indirectly”.
- The accused acted “with intent or reason to believe that such matter would be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
Death is available only where the offense “directly concerns” one of these: “nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large scale attack”; “war plans”; “communications intelligence or cryptographic information”; or “any other major weapons system or major element of defense strategy.” Even then, the statute requires the members to “unanimously find at least one of the aggravating factors” and to determine unanimously that mitigating circumstances “are substantially outweighed” by aggravating ones. The Manual’s maximum for espionage that is not a capital offense is “Any punishment, other than death”.
Aiding the Enemy: Article 103b
Article 103b, formerly Article 104, punishes anyone who “without proper authority, knowingly … gives intelligence to … or communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy, either directly or indirectly”. The penalty is death or other punishment. The offense turns on the word “knowingly”. In the 2013 court-martial of Private Chelsea Manning, whose disclosures went to WikiLeaks, the aiding-the-enemy charge ended in acquittal while other counts ended in conviction.
Unauthorized Disclosure Without a Foreign Recipient
| Provision | What it covers | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793">18 U.S.C. 793(d) and (e)</a> | a person with lawful or unauthorized possession of national defense material (for intangible information, with "reason to believe" it could injure the United States or help a foreign nation) who "willfully communicates, delivers, transmits" it "to any person not entitled to receive it", or willfully retains it (for a lawful holder, after a demand; for an unauthorized holder, without one) | fine, imprisonment up to 10 years |
| 18 U.S.C. 793(f) | "through gross negligence" permitting defense information to be removed, lost, or stolen, or failing to "make prompt report" of a known loss | fine, imprisonment up to 10 years |
| <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1924">18 U.S.C. 1924</a> | an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States who "knowingly removes" classified documents "without authority and with the intent to retain" them "at an unauthorized location" | fine, imprisonment up to 5 years |
| Art. 123, unauthorized distribution of classified information obtained from a government computer (MCM para. 69) | knowingly accessing a government computer for an unauthorized purpose, obtaining classified information, and intentionally passing it "to any person not entitled to receive it" with reason to believe it could injure the United States or benefit a foreign nation | dishonorable discharge, total forfeitures, 10 years; App. 12C Category 3 |
| Art. 92, violation of a lawful general order or regulation (MCM para. 18) | breaking binding rules for handling classified material | dishonorable discharge, total forfeitures, 2 years; App. 12C Category 1 |
Federal crimes such as 18 U.S.C. 793 and 1924 can be tried at court-martial through the third clause of Article 134, which reaches “crimes and offenses not capital”. A service member can also be prosecuted for them in federal district court. For espionage under Article 103a, the Manual’s Appendix 12C places both the capital and the non-capital forms in Category 5, a range of 240 to 480 months, for offenses committed after December 27, 2023. That range belongs to the military judge’s sentencing in noncapital cases under R.C.M. 1002(b). Under R.C.M. 925(b), an accused “convicted of any offense for which death may be adjudged” is sentenced under R.C.M. 1004, the capital-case rule.
Disclosure to Congress
Section 1924 contains a narrow exception for one recipient: “the provision of documents and materials to the Congress shall not constitute an offense under subsection (a).” That exception applies to section 1924’s removal offense. It does not authorize disclosure to the press, and it does not change the elements of section 793 or Article 103a. For a member who believes classified matters show wrongdoing, the question for counsel or an inspector general is which channels are authorized, and it comes before any material leaves its proper place.
Two Records That Show the Line
- Chelsea Manning (Army, 2013). The material went to WikiLeaks for publication. Manning was “convicted in July of 20 crimes but acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy”, as MPR News reported in 2014, and was sentenced to 35 years. President Barack Obama commuted the sentence in January 2017 so that it would expire on May 17, 2017.
- John Walker (Navy, retired). Walker sold cryptographic material to the Soviet Union for years. He was prosecuted in federal district court, not by court-martial, and sentenced to life after pleading guilty to espionage. His ring was arrested in 1985, months before the UCMJ espionage article was enacted.
Consequences Beyond the Sentence
A conviction brings a federal record and, at court-martial, a possible punitive discharge. A dishonorable discharge is a firearms disability under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(6). Classified access is decided separately, through the security clearance process. When a person subject to the UCMJ questions a member who is accused or suspected of an offense, Article 31(b) first requires a warning about the nature of the accusation and the right not to make a statement.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. 903a, Article 103a, Espionage, with statutory history notes (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 903b, Article 103b, Aiding the enemy (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 934, Article 134, General article (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. 793, Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. 794, Gathering or delivering defense information to aid foreign government (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. 1924, Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part II, R.C.M. 925(b), R.C.M. 1002(b); Part IV, para. 18 (Article 92), para. 32 (Article 103a), para. 69 (Article 123); Appendix 12B; Appendix 12C.
- MPR News (Associated Press), “Manning’s conviction, 35-year sentence upheld”, Apr. 14, 2014
- NPR, “President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning’s Prison Sentence”, Jan. 17, 2017
- United States v. Whitworth, 856 F.2d 1268 (9th Cir. 1988), describing John Walker’s guilty plea and life sentence (Law.Resource.Org)
This guide explains how disclosures of classified and national defense information are charged under the UCMJ and federal law. It is general information and not legal advice; classified-information cases require counsel with the necessary clearances and experience.