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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§928 Art. 128. Assault

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 47— - UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER X— - PUNITIVE ARTICLES › § 928

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Anyone covered by this chapter is guilty of assault if they unlawfully use force or violence by trying to hurt someone, threatening to hurt someone, or actually hurting someone. Assault also includes threatening to hurt someone with a dangerous weapon, causing substantial or grievous bodily harm, and strangling or suffocating someone. If the assault was meant to lead to murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, rape of a child, sexual assault of a child, robbery, arson, burglary, or kidnapping, a military court will decide the punishment.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §928

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person subject to this chapter who, unlawfully and with force or violence—
(1)attempts to do bodily harm to another person;
(2)offers to do bodily harm to another person; or
(3)does bodily harm to another person;
(b)Any person subject to this chapter—
(1)who, with the intent to do bodily harm, offers to do bodily harm with a dangerous weapon;
(2)who, in committing an assault, inflicts substantial bodily harm or grievous bodily harm on another person; or
(3)who commits an assault by strangulation or suffocation;
(c)(1)Any person subject to this chapter who commits assault with intent to commit an offense specified in paragraph (2) shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
(2)The offenses referred to in paragraph (1) are murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, rape of a child, sexual assault of a child, robbery, arson, burglary, and kidnapping.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 928(a)928(b)50:722(a).50:722(b).May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 1 (Art. 128), 64 Stat. 141.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 115–232 added par. (3). 2017—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 115–91 struck out comma after “substantial bodily harm”. 2016—Pub. L. 114–328 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to the offenses of assault and aggravated assault.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 Amendment Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title V, § 531(b), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1759, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on January 1, 2019, immediately after the coming into effect of the amendment made by section 5441 of the Military Justice Act of 2016 (division E of Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2954) [which amended this section] as provided in section 5542 of that Act (130 Stat. 2967; 10 U.S.C. 801 note).”

Effective Date

of 2017 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–91 effective immediately after the

Amendments

made by div. E (§§ 5001–5542) of Pub. L. 114–328 take effect as provided for in section 5542 of that Act (10 U.S.C. 801 note), see section 1081(c)(4) of Pub. L. 115–91, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2016 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on Jan. 1, 2019, as designated by the President, with implementing

Regulations

and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under section 801 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 928

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73