10 U.S.C. § 886
Section 886 · Art. 86. Absence without leave
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1,285 court decisions — leading case Middendorf v. Henry (1976)
Most recently applied in Gary Jackson v. Thomas Modly (February 2020)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 10 U.S.C. § 866 · 10 U.S.C. § 859 · 10 U.S.C. § 934
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Any member of the armed forces who, without authority—
(1) fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed;
(2) goes from that place; or
(3) absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed;
shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words “proper” and “other” are omitted as surplusage.
Cross References
Article to be explained, see section 937 of this title.
Enlisted members required to make up time lost, see section 972 of this title.
Policy as to leave and liberty, Navy and Marine Corps, see section 5949 of this title.
Statute of limitations, see section 843 of this title.