§2579 War Booty: Procedures for Handling and Retaining Battlefield Objects

Summary

The rule says the Secretary of Defense must make rules for handling items found or captured on the battlefield. It says souvenirs are a long-standing tradition, but getting them must not harm operations, lead to mistreatment of enemy people, dishonor the dead, distract from missions, or cause other bad conduct. When U.S. forces are in a combat zone, captured or abandoned enemy items must be turned over to the proper U.S. or allied military personnel unless the rules say otherwise. Service members and others under military authority may not take enemy property as a souvenir unless the rules allow it. The rules must let a service member ask to keep an item as a souvenir when they turn it in. A designated officer will review such requests and can approve return if appropriate. For captured weapons, only kinds agreed to by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Treasury can be kept. Any weapon given to a member must be made unserviceable first, and a fee may be charged for each weapon to cover the full cost of disabling it.