{"id":1228106748,"date":"2026-06-03T21:19:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gapasinlaw.com\/article-128-ucmj-assault-and-battery--self-defense-is-the-most-common-defense"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:19:05","slug":"article-128-ucmj-assault-and-battery-self-defense-is-the-most-common-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/?p=1228106748","title":{"rendered":"Article 128, UCMJ, Assault and Battery. “Self-Defense Is The Most Common Defense”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article 128, UCMJ, Assault and Battery. “Self-Defense Is The Most Common Defense”<\/a><\/h1>\n

Posted by Ernesto Gapasin<\/a> | Oct 27, 2021<\/span> | 0 Comments<\/span><\/p>\n

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Article 128, UCMJ, covers charges for Assault and Battery.  The Article states:<\/div>\n
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(a) Assault. <\/b><\/div>\n
Any person subject to this chapter [10 USCS \u00a7\u00a7 801<\/a> et seq.] who, unlawfully and with force or violence\u2014<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
\n(1)<\/b> attempts to do bodily harm to another person;<\/div>\n
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\n(2)<\/b> offers to do bodily harm to another person; or<\/div>\n
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\n(3)<\/b> does bodily harm to another person;<\/div>\n
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is guilty of assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.<\/div>\n
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(b) Aggravated assault. <\/b><\/div>\n
Any person subject to this chapter [10 USCS \u00a7\u00a7 801<\/a> et seq.]\u2014<\/div>\n
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\n(1)<\/b> who, with the intent to do bodily harm, offers to do bodily harm with a dangerous weapon;<\/div>\n
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\n(2)<\/b> who, in committing an assault, inflicts substantial bodily harm or grievous bodily harm on another person; or<\/div>\n
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\n(3)<\/b> who commits an assault by strangulation or suffocation;<\/div>\n
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is guilty of aggravated assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.<\/div>\n
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In the types of Military Courts-Martial Trials we typically see, assault requires that the accused engaged or intended to inflict some type of injury on another.\u00a0 There are various types of assault under the UCMJ, but what is most commonly seen is that engagement between two individuals in a bar fight, for example.\u00a0 So we see bar fights, we also see a lot of domestic violence situations involving a husband and wife or a boyfriend and girlfriend.\u00a0 Obviously, the varieties and multitudes of incidents are too many to count.\u00a0 Ultimately, however, these are the two most common scenarios we see at Gapasin Law Group.\u00a0 It is likely that most Court-Martial Lawyers will take the position that the best defense against charges under Article 128 is to show facts supporting self-defense.\u00a0 If someone is drunk and attempting to punch you at a bar, then the law clearly allows a certain degree of self defense.\u00a0 Even in the safety of one's own home, a spouse can become violent, whether they are male or female.\u00a0 If a spouse lunges at you, then self-defense is a recognized defense to being charged with assault and battery.\u00a0 The type and level of self-defense has to be perceived as reasonable.\u00a0 If acting in self-defense is not reasonable, then the defense simply will not be believed by a panel.\u00a0 If you are facing charges under Article 128 and you believe you have a case for self-defense, contact Gapasin Law Group, LLC at 1-(888) 919-UCMJ (8265).\u00a0 You can also email us on our website at gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article 128, UCMJ, Assault and Battery. “Self-Defense Is The Most Common Defense” Posted by Ernesto Gapasin | Oct 27, 2021 | 0 Comments Article 128, UCMJ, covers charges for Assault and Battery.  The Article states:   (a) Assault.  Any person subject to this chapter [ 10 USCS \u00a7\u00a7 801 &<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1228106748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228106748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1228106748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228106748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1228106748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1228106748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gapasinlaw.espresso.themodernfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1228106748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}