St. John's Law Review Volume 35 Number 2 Volume 35, May 1961, Number 2 Article 5 The General Articles, Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice Gilbert G. Ackroyd Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE GENERAL ARTICLES, ARTICLES 133 AND 134 OF THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE LT. COL. GCILBIRT G. ACKROYD t INTRODUCTION W E begin this discussion by taking certain liberties with ' the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for that Code mentions only one "General Article," Article 134, and we are going to use that description in referring to Article 133, "Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman," as well. However, considering the history and indeed the very nature of these two articles, the reader will readily understand that the term "general" is here being used merely in a sense opposite to the term "specific," that is, in regard to the rather generic ideas of criminality or misconduct, which in some instances consist only of a failure to comply with certain necessary mil- itary standards, expressed in both of these articles. It also will be found that some of the particular acts or omissions which run afoul of these two articles do not always have con- venient criminal connotations of the type immediately recogniz- able by one trained in the common law, but perhaps somewhat unfamiliar with military life, customs, and historical devel- opment.