Capital punishment by the United States military

The military of the United States executed 160 soldiers and other members of the armed forces between 1942 and 1961 (these figures do not include German prisoners of war, war criminals, spies, and saboteurs executed by U.S. military authorities between 1942 and 1951). There have been no military executions since 1961 although the death penalty is still a possible punishment for several crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Of these executions, 157 were carried out by the United States Army. The United States Air Force conducted the three remaining executions, one in 1950 and two in 1954. The U.S. Navy has not executed anyone since 1849. The United States Army had previously executed a total of 36 soldiers during the First World War, all taking place by hanging between 5 November 1917 and 20 June 1919. Eleven of these hangings were performed in France while the remaining 25 were carried out in continental United States.

Of the total, 106 were executed for murder (including 21 involving rape), 53 for rape and one (Eddie Slovik) for desertion.

Reintroduction of the military death penalty
The death penalty by the U.S. military was reintroduced by the executive order of President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

On July 28, 2008, President George W. Bush approved the execution of United States Army Private Ronald A. Gray, who had been convicted in April 1988 of multiple murders and rapes. A month later, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren set an execution date of December 10, 2008 and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute. The military publicly released Gray's execution date on November 20, 2008. On November 26, however, Gray was granted a stay of execution by federal judge Rogers. He has not yet been executed.

Punishable crimes
Currently, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 14 offenses are punishable by death. Under the following sections of the UCMJ, the death penalty can be imposed at any time:


 * 94 - Mutiny or sedition
 * 99 - Misbehavior before the enemy
 * 100 - Subordinate compelling surrender
 * 101 - Improper use of countersign
 * 102 - Forcing a safeguard
 * 104 - Aiding the enemy
 * 106a - Espionage
 * 110 - Improper hazarding of vessel
 * 118 - Murder (including both premeditated murder and felony murder)
 * 120 - Rape (including child rape)

Four provisions of the UCMJ carry a death sentence only if the crime is committed during times of war:


 * 85 - Desertion
 * 90 - Assaulting or willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer
 * 106 - Lurking as a spy or acting as a spy
 * 113 - Misbehavior of a sentinel or lookout

Sentencing and execution
Capital cases are tried in courts-martial before a panel of at least twelve military members. If the defendant is an enlisted servicemember, they may opt for at least one third of the panel to also be of enlisted rank. All members of the panel must outrank the accused. The defendant cannot plead guilty to the charges. The panel must be unanimous in conviction, that the government has proven necessary aggravating factors, that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors, and that death is the only sentence applicable. All death sentences are automatically appealed first to the Court of Criminal Appeals for the military service concerned, then to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The sentence must be personally confirmed by the President of the United States.

Military executions would be conducted under regulations issued on January 17, 2006, and would ordinarily take place at the Special Housing Unit of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, although alternative locations are possible (such as the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, where federal civilian death row inmates are housed and executed). Of five convicted servicemen awaiting execution, four are confined at the Special Housing Unit and one at Camp Lejeune, all of whom have been convicted of premeditated murder or felony murder.

Until 1961, the last military execution to date, hanging was the sole and official method. Later, the military introduced the electric chair, which was never used. Currently, lethal injection is the sole method.

Executions during World War II and postwar
The United States Army carried out 141 executions over a three-year period from 1942 to 1945, and a further six executions were conducted during the postwar period, for a known total of 147.

70 of these 141 wartime executions were carried out in the European Theatre, 27 in the Mediterranean Theatre, 21 in the Southwest Pacific Area, 19 in the continental United States, two in Hawaii, one in Guadacanal and one in India; of the six postwar executions, one took place in Hawaii, one in Japan, two in France and two in the Philippines. An execution was also carried out by the United States Air Force in Japan in 1950.

All executions carried out by the Army during 1942 to 1948 were performed under the authority of the Articles of War of June 4, 1920, an Act of Congress which governed military justice between 1920 and 1948.

With the exception of Eddie Slovik, who was shot for desertion, all of these soldiers were executed for murder and/or rape. It should be noted that several of the soldiers listed as convicted and executed for murder and/or rape had also been convicted on other charges, including those of a military nature such as desertion and mutiny and plus lesser crimes that would not have been considered capital unless combined with more serious offenses which carried the death penalty.

Sources for list in References section.

Executions of German POWs during World War II
In 1945, the United States Army executed fourteen German prisoners of war by hanging at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These POWs, members of the German Armed services, had been convicted by general court-martial for the murders of fellow Germans believed by their fellow inmates to be collaborating as confidential informants with the United States military authorities. These hangings at the United States Disciplinary Barracks were carried out in a warehouse elevator shaft which had been converted into a temporary gallows. The fourteen Germans were subsequently buried in the Fort Leavenworth Military Prison Cemetery.

Executions by the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force has executed a total of three airmen by hanging between 1950 and 1954. The first execution, that of Robert E. Keller,  was conducted under the authority of the 1920 Articles of War;  those of Burns and Dennis,  Jr. were carried out under a short-lived revised version of the Articles of War popularly known as the Elston Act of 1948.

Executions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
A total of ten military executions have been carried out by the United States Army under the provisions of the original Uniform Code of Military Justice of 5 May 1950. The first four of these executions, those of Bernard J. O'Brien,  Chastine Beverly,  Louis M. Suttles and James L. Riggins, were carried out by military officials at the Kansas State Penitentiary near Lansing, Kansas. The remaining six executions took place in the boiler room of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Hanging was the method employed in these ten executions.

Individuals currently awaiting execution under the UCMJ
Five individuals are currently awaiting execution under the UCMJ. The death sentence of a sixth has been overturned on appeal, but that individual remains on death row awaiting a possible appeal by the military. All executions, if carried out, will be by lethal injection.

Executions by the United States Navy
The United States Navy has executed approximately seventeen sailors and Marines for various offenses, of which the most famous were several crew members of the USS Somers who were summarily hanged for allegedly conspiring to mutiny. No member of the Navy has been executed since 1849. The United States Navy also executed fourteen Japanese nationals by hanging on charges of war crimes on Guam after the Second World War.