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Introduction
All Marines take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to bear true faith and allegiance to its provisions. Enlisted Marines also vow to obey the orders of the President and officers "according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice" (UCMJ). From the yellow footprints to the end of service, we hold ourselves and our Marines to the standards of the UCMJ. The oath of enlistment demands an understanding of these standards, and the UCMJ requires that several of its articles be "carefully explained" in accordance with Article 137.
Article 137 states that specified articles of the UCMJ "shall be carefully explained to each enlisted member at the time of (or within 14 days after)" either the member's initial entrance on active duty or the member's initial entrance into a duty status with a reserve component. Additionally, the articles shall be carefully explained again after the member has completed six months of active-duty service-or, in the case of a member of a reserve component, after the member has completed basic or recruit training-and again each time the member reenlists.
According to the Preamble in the Manual for Courts-Martial, the purpose of military justice is "to promote justice, to assist in maintaining good order and discipline in the Armed Forces, to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the military establishment, and thereby to strengthen the national security of the United States." The UCMJ provides a structure for accomplishing these objectives while also safeguarding military personnel's individual rights; thus, the need for Article 137. An understanding of the UCMJ allows Marines to keep their personal conduct and leadership actions in accordance with the law, which is especially important because the law tends to change annually-this year is no exception. If passed as proposed, the Military Justice Act of 2016 (MJA 2016) will change the UCMJ yet again, effectively changing the structure for accomplishing the Preamble's objectives while safeguarding Marine's individual rights.
History of Article 137
Before the Civil War, laws of war were less concerned with rules of engagement or the rights of detainees and more with regulating armies; hence, "court-martial," or war court. These regulations were called Articles of War. Men intending to join-enlisted and officers-were required to...