What Happens If You Miss Movement in the Military
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Missing movement is a specific offense under Article 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It applies when a service member who is required in the course of duty to move with a ship, aircraft, or unit, and who actually knew about the movement, misses it through design or neglect. Missing it on purpose (“design”) carries up to a dishonorable discharge and two years of confinement. Missing it through neglect carries up to a bad-conduct discharge and one year. Not every trip counts. The Manual for Courts-Martial limits “movement” to a move of substantial distance and duration, and a short local relocation does not qualify.
The Three Elements
The Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, paragraph 11, lists the elements:
- “That the accused was required in the course of duty to move with a ship, aircraft, or unit”
- “That the accused knew of the prospective movement of the ship, aircraft, or unit”
- “That the accused missed the movement through design or neglect.”
What Counts as a “Movement”
The Manual defines movement as “a move, transfer, or shift of a ship, aircraft, or unit involving a substantial distance and period of time.” Whether a movement is substantial “is a question to be determined by the court-martial considering all the circumstances.” The Manual gives examples of what is not a movement: “practice marches of a short duration with a return to the point of departure, and minor changes in location of ships, aircraft, or units”. These include shifting a ship “from one berth to another in the same shipyard or harbor” or moving a unit “from one barracks to another on the same post.”
How the unit travels does not matter. For a unit move, “the mode of travel is not important, whether it be military or commercial,” and the word “unit” includes units formed for the movement or disbanded on arrival. For a ship or aircraft, the rule is narrower: for a crew member or ordered passenger, “missing the particular sailing or flight is essential to establish the offense of missing movement.”
Design, Neglect, and Knowledge
- Design “means on purpose, intentionally, or according to plan and requires specific intent to miss the movement.”
- Neglect “means the omission to take such measures as are appropriate under the circumstances to assure presence … at the time of a scheduled movement”. It also covers “doing some act without giving attention to its probable consequences” in connection with the movement, such as traveling so far away that one could not return in time.
- Actual knowledge is required: “the accused must have actually known of the prospective movement that was missed.” Knowing the exact hour or date is not required. The approximate date is enough “as long as there is a causal connection between the conduct of the accused and the missing of the scheduled movement.” Knowledge “may be proved by circumstantial evidence.”
The government can prove the miss through records, “a proper entry or absence of entry in a log or a morning report”, or through testimony that the movement happened while the accused “was physically elsewhere at that time.”
Maximum Punishments and Sentencing Categories
| Article 87 offense | Maximum punishment (MCM para. 11.d) | App. 12C category, App. 12B range |
|---|---|---|
| Missing movement through design | dishonorable discharge, total forfeitures, 2 years | Category 2, 1 to 24 months (capped by the 2-year maximum) |
| Missing movement through neglect | bad-conduct discharge, total forfeitures, 1 year | Category 1, 0 to 12 months |
The categories apply to offenses committed after December 27, 2023. Under Article 43(a), “missing movement in time of war” has no statute of limitations. Otherwise the five-year limit applies, and periods of unauthorized absence are excluded from it.
How Missing Movement Relates to AWOL and Desertion
A single failure to deploy can support more than one charge:
- Absence without leave (Article 86) covers being away from the unit or place of duty without authority, whether or not a movement was scheduled.
- Missing movement (Article 87) covers the specific failure to move with the ship, aircraft, or unit.
- Desertion (Article 85) applies if the evidence shows intent to remain away permanently, or that the member quit the unit “with the intent to avoid a certain duty or shirk a certain service”. The Manual lists “embarkation for certain foreign or sea duty” and “duty in a combat or other dangerous area” as examples of hazardous duty or important service.
Design and neglect are the dividing line within Article 87. Desertion requires a further intent beyond missing the departure. Facts such as contacting the chain of command right away, or staying out of contact for weeks, bear on which theory the evidence supports.
Disposition and First Steps
A missed movement can be handled through administrative action, nonjudicial punishment under Article 15, or court-martial. A member not attached to or embarked in a vessel may refuse NJP in favor of trial. Under Article 31(b), any questioning about why the movement was missed must follow a warning about the accusation and the right to remain silent. The explanation a member gives can become the evidence of design or neglect.
Notice, Intent, and the Movement Itself
- Was the event a “movement” of substantial distance and period of time, or a local relocation?
- What did the member actually know about the departure, and when? The approximate date is enough for knowledge.
- What steps did the member take, or fail to take, to be present? This separates neglect from an unavoidable event.
- Is there evidence of intent to avoid the duty itself, which could raise an Article 85 charge?
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. 887, Article 87, Missing movement; jumping from vessel (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 885, Article 85, Desertion (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 886, Article 86, Absence without leave (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 843, Article 43, Statute of limitations (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 815, Article 15, Commanding officer’s non-judicial punishment (Cornell LII)
- 10 U.S.C. 831, Article 31, Compulsory self-incrimination prohibited (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, para. 9, para. 10, and para. 11; Appendix 12B; Appendix 12C.
This guide explains how missing movement is defined and punished under the UCMJ and the 2024 Manual for Courts-Martial. It is general information and not legal advice about a particular deployment or departure.