Submariners 'Missing Movement' and Discipline Video

Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)
ART. 87. MISSING MOVEMENT

Any person subject to this chapter who through neglect or design misses the movement of a ship, aircraft, or unit with which he is required in the course of duty to move shall be punished as a court-martial may direct

Distinctions [I am no lawyer, and these are very incomplete, inexpert notes]:

Missing Movement [Article 87] describes individual failures of servicemembers to arrive at the appointed time to deploy, or 'move out' with their assigned unit, ship, or aircraft. In the U.S. military, Missing Movement is a violation of the 87th article of the UCMJ. Similar to AWOL, Missing Movement is considered a more severe offense.

AWOL [Article 86]/UA may be punished with nonjudicial punishment (NJP), informally referred to as office hours by U.S. Marines. Repeat or severe instances, however, may result in Court Martial.

Submarines are technically ships, but they are also specialized units comprised of a limited number of highly trained volunteers. Rarely do submariners Miss Movement, or take Unauthorized Absences. This is more explainable by the esprit of a voluntary team than discontinuance of mandatory conscription since 1973. There have been a few severe and noteworthy exceptions.

Some of you older guys remember the long, 'armed conflict' in which 58,195 women and men of courage lost their lives in service to our country. Wearing the military uniform in certain locales within the USA carried a hefty abuse penalty of verbal if not outright physical assault by self-proclaimed peace activists.

Some of the activists befriended a couple of our crew and tried really long and hard to convert them. One subsequently declared his C.O. (conscientious objector) status. The first step required nonvolunteering out of submarines. If that ever happened, it was not on our boat, where he continued to perform his duties professionally until the end of his normal enlistment.

Never heard of a breathing submariner missing movement in the UCMJ sense during my time.

Years later, after the draft had ended, a spoiled young fellow I had met went AWOL from navy boot camp. It was then I remembered the AWOLs during my boot days, and those rare glimpses of their individual disciplinary chasers (USMC) in the mess hall and forty-fifty Company maneuvers:

...humiliating remedial boot camp called "4050"; suicide attempts of guys in 4050; escape attempt from boot camp; source

The Navy believed strongly in maximizing resources. If you were not going to perform to minimum discilpinary expectations, you were going to be an involuntary exhibit for those similarly tempted.

For the human exhibits, it had to be humiliating. For the rest of us it was mildly entertaining. Sailors in red dixie cups running from one side of the base to the other with buckets full of dirt to fill holes just dug on the other side. Rain, shine, no matter. Marine 'supervisors' with their billy-clubs at the ready and liberally used, even in the dining hall as we took our meals.

What happened to the recruit who went AWOL? The Navy just let him out with a next to honorable discharge. Things have changed; see the YouTube:



Original navy discipline ...