ASSAULT.—Any person subject to this chapter who, unlawfully and with force or violence—

attempts to do bodily harm to another person;

offers to do bodily harm to another person; or

does bodily harm to another person;

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.—Any person subject to this chapter—

who, with the intent to do bodily harm, offers to do bodily harm with a dangerous weapon;

who, in committing an assault, inflicts substantial bodily harm or grievous bodily harm on another person; or

who commits an assault by strangulation or suffocation; is guilty of aggravated assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO COMMIT SPECIFIED OFFENSES.—

IN GENERAL.—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.

OFFENSES SPECIFIED.—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.

That the accused attempted to do or offered to do bodily harm to a certain person;

That the attempt or offer was done unlawfully; and

That the attempt or offer was done with force or violence.

That the accused did bodily harm to a certain person;

That the bodily harm was done unlawfully; and

That the bodily harm was done with force or violence.

That the accused attempted to do, offered to do, or did bodily harm to a certain person;

That the attempt, offer, or bodily harm was done unlawfully;

That the attempt, offer, or bodily harm was done with force or violence;

That the person was a commissioned, warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer; and

That the accused then knew that the person was a commissioned, warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer.

That the accused attempted to do, offered to do, or did bodily harm to a certain person;

That the attempt, offer, or bodily harm was done unlawfully;

That the attempt, offer, or bodily harm was done with force or violence;

That the person was a sentinel or lookout in the execution of duty or was a person who then had and was in the execution of security police, military police, shore patrol, master at arms, or other military or civilian law enforcement duties; and

That the accused then knew that the person was a sentinel or lookout in the execution of duty or was a person who then had and was in the execution of security police, military police, shore patrol, master at arms, or other military or civilian law enforcement duties.

That the accused did bodily harm to a certain person;

That the bodily harm was done unlawfully;

That the bodily harm was done with force or violence; and

That the person was then a child under the age of 16 years.

That the accused offered to do bodily harm to a certain person;

The offer was made with the intent to do bodily harm; and

That the accused did so with a dangerous weapon.

[Note: Add any of the following elements as applicable:]

That the dangerous weapon was a loaded firearm.

That the person was a child under the age of 16 years.

That the accused assaulted a certain person; and

That substantial bodily harm was thereby inflicted upon such person.

[Note: Add any of the following elements as applicable:]

That the injury was inflicted with a loaded firearm.

That the person was a child under the age of 16 years.

That the accused assaulted a certain person; and

That grievous bodily harm was thereby inflicted upon such person.

[Note: Add any of the following elements as applicable:]

That the injury was inflicted with a loaded firearm.

That the person was a child under the age of 16 years.

That the accused assaulted a certain person;

That the accused did so by strangulation or suffocation; and;

That the strangulation or suffocation was done with unlawful force or violence;

[Note: Add the following as applicable]

That the person was a child under the age of 16 years.

That the accused assaulted a certain person; and

That the accused, at the time of the assault, intended to: kill (as required for murder or voluntary manslaughter), or commit rape, rape of a child, sexual assault, sexual assault of a child, robbery, arson, burglary, or kidnapping.

“Bodily harm” means an offensive touching of another, however slight.

“Substantial bodily harm” means a bodily injury that involves:

a temporary but substantial disfigurement, or

a temporary but substantial loss or impairment of function of any bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

“Grievous bodily harm” means a bodily injury that involves:

a substantial risk of death;

extreme physical pain;

protracted and obvious disfigurement; or

protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

An assault is an unlawful attempt or offer, made with force or violence, to do bodily harm to another, whether or not the attempt or offer is consummated. It must be done without legal justification or excuse and without the lawful consent of the person affected.

An attempt-type assault requires a specific intent to inflict bodily harm, and an overt act—that is, an act that amounts to more than mere preparation and apparently tends to effect the intended bodily harm. An attempt-type assault may be committed even though the victim had no knowledge of the incident at the time.

An offer-type assault is an unlawful demonstration of violence, either by an intentional or by a culpably negligent act or omission, which creates in the mind of another a reasonable apprehension of receiving immediate bodily harm. Specific intent to inflict bodily harm is not required.

If Doe swings a fist at Roe’s head intending to hit Roe but misses, Doe has committed an attempt-type assault, whether or not Roe is aware of the attempt.

If Doe swings a fist in the direction of Roe’s head either intentionally or as a result of culpable negligence, and Roe sees the blow coming and is thereby put in apprehension of being struck, Doe has committed an offer-type assault whether or not Doe intended to hit Roe.

If Doe swings at Roe’s head, intending to hit it, and Roe sees the blow coming and is thereby put in apprehension of being struck, Doe has committed both on offer-and an attempt-type assault.

If Doe swings at Roe’s head simply to frighten Roe, not intending to hit Roe, and Roe does not see the blow and is not placed in fear, then no assault of any type has been committed.

Preparation not amounting to an overt act, such as picking up a stone without any attempt or offer to throw it, does not constitute an assault.

The use of threatening words alone does not constitute an assault. However, if the threatening words are accompanied by a menacing act or gesture, there may be an assault, since the combination constitutes a demonstration of violence.

If the circumstances known to the person menaced clearly negate an intent to do bodily harm, there is no assault. Thus, if a person accompanies an apparent attempt to strike another by an unequivocal announcement in some form of an intention not to strike, there is no assault. For example, if Doe raises a stick and shakes it at Roe within striking distance saying, “If you weren’t an old man, I would knock you down,” Doe has committed no assault. However, an offer to inflict bodily injury upon another instantly if that person does not comply with a demand that the assailant has no lawful right to make is an assault. Thus, if Doe points a pistol at Roe and says, “If you don’t hand over your watch, I will shoot you,” Doe has committed an assault upon Roe. See also paragraph 67 (Robbery) of this Part.

It is not a defense to a charge of assault that for some reason unknown to the assailant, an assault attempt was bound to fail. Thus, if a person loads a rifle with what is believed to be a good cartridge and, pointing it at another, pulls the trigger, that person may be guilty of assault although the cartridge was defective and did not fire. Likewise, if a person in a house shoots through the roof at a place where a policeman is believed to be, that person may be guilty of assault even though the policeman is at another place on the roof.

An assault is complete if there is a demonstration of violence and an apparent ability to inflict bodily injury causing the person at whom it was directed to reasonably apprehend that unless the person retreats bodily harm will be inflicted. This is true even though the victim retreated and was never within actual striking distance of the assailant. There must, however, be an apparent present ability to inflict the injury. Thus, to aim a pistol at a person at such a distance that it clearly could not injure would not be an assault.

A battery is an assault in which the attempt or offer to do bodily harm is consummated by the infliction of that harm.

The force applied in a battery may have been directly or indirectly applied. Thus, a battery can be committed by inflicting bodily injury on a person through striking the horse on which the person is mounted causing the horse to throw the person, as well as by striking the person directly.

It may be a battery to spit on another, push a third person against another, set a dog at another that bites the person, cut another’s clothes while the person is wearing them though without touching or intending to touch the person, shoot a person, cause a person to take poison, or drive an automobile into a person. A person who, although excused in using force, uses more force than is required, commits a battery. Throwing an object into a crowd may be a battery on anyone whom the object hits.

If bodily harm is inflicted unintentionally and without culpable negligence, there is no battery. It is also not a battery to touch another to attract the other’s attention or to prevent injury.

The maximum punishment is increased when assault is committed upon a commissioned officer of the armed forces of the United States, or of a friendly foreign power, or upon a warrant, noncommissioned, or petty officer of the armed forces of the United States. Knowledge of the status of the victim is an essential element of the offense and may be proved by circumstantial evidence. It is not necessary that the victim be superior in rank or command to the accused, that the victim be in the same armed force, or that the victim be in the execution of office at the time of the assault.

The maximum punishment is increased when assault is committed upon a sentinel or lookout in the execution of duty or upon a person who was then performing security police, military police, shore patrol, master at arms, or other military or civilian law enforcement duties. Knowledge of the status of the victim is an essential element of this offense and may be proved by circumstantial evidence. See subparagraph 22.c.(1)(d) for the definition of sentinel or lookout.

The maximum punishment is increased when assault consummated by a battery is committed upon a child under 16 years of age. Knowledge that the person assaulted was under 16 years of age is not an element of this offense.

It must be proved that the accused specifically intended to do bodily harm. Culpable negligence will not suffice.

Specific intent may be proved by circumstantial evidence. When bodily harm has been inflicted by means of intentionally using force in a manner capable of achieving that result, it may be inferred that bodily harm was intended.

A weapon is dangerous when used in a manner capable of inflicting death or grievous bodily harm. What constitutes a dangerous weapon depends not on the nature of the object itself but on its capacity, given the manner of its use, to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm. Thus, a bottle, beer glass, a rock, a bunk adaptor, a piece of pipe, a piece of wood, boiling water, drugs, or a rifle butt may be used in a manner capable of inflicting death or grievous bodily harm. Furthermore, under the appropriate circumstances, fists, teeth, feet, elbows, etc. may be considered a dangerous weapon when employed in a manner capable of inflicting death or grievous bodily harm.

It is not necessary that bodily harm be actually inflicted to prove assault with a dangerous weapon.

The maximum punishment is increased when assault with a dangerous weapon is committed upon a child under 16 years of age. Knowledge that the person assaulted was under the age of 16 years is not an element of the offense.

Assault in which substantial or grievous bodily harm is inflicted is a general intent crime which requires that the accused assaulted another person and that the assault resulted in substantial or grievous bodily harm. The offense does not require specific intent to cause substantial or grievous bodily harm. The focus of the offense is the degree of bodily harm resulting from an assault. This contrasts with the offense of assault with a dangerous weapon, where the focus of the offense is the accused’s intent to do bodily harm and the use of a dangerous weapon, regardless of whether any bodily harm results.

The maximum punishment is increased when assault involving infliction of substantial or grievous bodily harm is inflicted upon a child under 16 years of age. Knowledge that the person assaulted was under the age of 16 years is not an element of the offense.

Assault by strangulation or suffocation is an assault committed intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, regardless of whether that conduct results in any visible injury or whether there is any intent to kill or protractedly injure the victim.

See paragraph 77.c.(2)(a).

Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of a person by applying pressure to the throat or neck, regardless of whether that conduct results in any visible injury or whether there is any intent to kill or protractedly injure the victim.

Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly impeding the normal breathing of a person by covering the mouth of the person, the nose of the person, or both, regardless of whether that conduct results in any visible injury or whether there is any intent to kill or protractedly injure the victim.

The maximum punishment is increased when aggravated assault by strangulation or suffocation is inflicted upon a child under 16 years of age. Knowledge that the person assaulted was under the age of 16 years is not an element of the offense.

An assault with intent to commit any of the offenses referenced below is not necessarily the equivalent of an attempt to commit the intended offense, for an assault can be committed with intent to commit an offense without achieving that proximity to consummation of an intended offense that is essential to an attempt. See paragraph 4 of this Part.

Assault with intent to commit murder is assault with the specific intent to kill. Actual infliction of injury is not necessary. To constitute an assault with intent to murder with a firearm, it is not necessary that the weapon be discharged. When the intent to kill exists, the fact that for some unknown reason the actual consummation of the murder by the means employed is impossible is not a defense if the means are apparently adapted to the end in view. The intent to kill need not be directed against the person assaulted if the assault is committed with intent to kill some person. For example, if a person, intending to kill Jones, shoots Smith, mistaking Smith for Jones, that person is guilty of assaulting Smith with intent to murder. If a person fires into a group with intent to kill anyone in the group, that person is guilty of an assault with intent to murder each member of the group.

Assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter is an assault committed with a specific intent to kill under such circumstances that, if death resulted therefrom, the offense of voluntary manslaughter would have been committed. There can be no assault with intent to commit involuntary manslaughter, for it is not a crime capable of being intentionally committed.

In assault with intent to commit any rape or sexual assault, the accused must have intended to complete the offense. Any lesser intent will not suffice. No actual touching is necessary. Once an assault with intent to commit rape is made, it is no defense that the accused voluntarily desisted.

For assault with intent to rob, the fact that the accused intended to take money and that the person the accused intended to rob had none is not a defense.

Confinement for 3 months and forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 3 months.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 4 years.

Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.

See paragraph 77.d.(3)(e).

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 18 months.

Bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Dishonorably discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowance, and confinement for 10 years.

Dishonorable, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 20 years.

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 10 years.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location), (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, assault __________ by (striking at (him) (her) with a __________) (__________).

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, unlawfully (strike) (__________) __________ (on) (in) the __________ with __________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, assault _____, who then was and was then known by the accused to be a commissioned officer of (_____, a friendly foreign power) [the United States (Army) (Navy) (Marine Corps) (Air Force) (Coast Guard) (______)] by _______________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, assault __________, who then was and was then known by the accused to be a (warrant) (noncommissioned) (petty) officer of the [the United States (Army) (Navy) (Marine Corps) (Air Force) (Coast Guard) (______)] by _______________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, assault __________, who then was and was then known by the accused to be a (sentinel) (lookout) in the execution of (his) (her) duty, ((in) (on) the __________) by __________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, assault __________, who then was and was then known by the accused to be a person then having and in the execution of (Air Force security police) (military police) (shore patrol) (master at arms) ((military) (civilian) law enforcement)) duties, by __________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject-matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, unlawfully (strike) (_______) _________ (a child under the age of 16 years) (in) (on) the _____ with ____________.

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, with the intent to inflict bodily harm, commit an assault upon __________ (a child under the age of 16 years) by (shooting) (pointing) (striking) (cutting) (_____) (at (him) (her)) with a dangerous weapon, to wit: a (loaded firearm) (pickax) (bayonet) (club) (_________).

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, commit an assault upon _____ (a child under the age of 16 years) by (shooting) (striking) (cutting) (___) (him) (her) (on) the _____ with a (loaded firearm) (club) (rock) (brick) (________) and did thereby inflict substantial bodily harm upon (him) (her), to wit: (severe bruising of the face) (head concussion) (temporary blindness) (__________).

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, commit an assault upon _____ (a child under the age of 16 years) by (shooting) (striking) (cutting) (___) (him) (her) (on) the _____ with a (loaded firearm) (club) (rock) (brick) (_________) and did thereby inflict grievous bodily harm upon (him) (her), to wit: a (broken leg) (deep cut) (fractured skull) (__________).

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, commit an assault upon __________ (a child under the age of 16 years) by unlawfully (strangling) (suffocating) (him) (her) (with/by __________).

In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board-location) (subject matter jurisdiction data, if required), on or about _____ 20 __, with intent to commit (murder) (voluntary manslaughter) (rape) (rape of a child) (sexual assault) (sexual assault of a child) (robbery) (arson) (burglary) (kidnapping), assault____________ by (striking at (him) (her) with a __________) (__________).