Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§921 Art. 121. Larceny and Wrongful Appropriation
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 47 — UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE › SUBCHAPTER X — PUNITIVE ARTICLES › § 921
Summary
Anyone covered by this chapter who takes or keeps money, personal property, or anything valuable that belongs to someone else without permission commits a crime. Larceny means taking it with the plan to keep it forever. Wrongful appropriation means taking it with the plan to use it only for a while. If found guilty, a court-martial decides the punishment.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §921
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Any person subject to this chapter who wrongfully takes, obtains, or withholds, by any means, from the possession of the owner or of any other person any money, personal property, or article of value of any kind—
(1)with intent permanently to deprive or defraud another person of the use and benefit of property or to appropriate it to his own use or the use of any person other than the owner, steals that property and is guilty of larceny; or
(2)with intent temporarily to deprive or defraud another person of the use and benefit of property or to appropriate it to his own use or the use of any person other than the owner, is guilty of wrongful appropriation.
(b)Any person found guilty of larceny or wrongful appropriation shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 921(a)921(b)50:715(a).50:715(b).May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 1 (Art. 121), 64 Stat. 140. In subsection (a), the words “whatever” and “true” are omitted as surplusage. The word “it” is substituted for the words “the same” in clauses (1) and (2).
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 921
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102