Lesson 08 of 16 Phase 4: Challenges and resources
Resources for Further Learning About Military Systems: Where to Find the Official Rule
In this lesson: 3 sections
The official text of military law sits in a small number of places: the Uniform Code of Military Justice in Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the Manual for Courts-Martial published by the Joint Service Committee, Defense Department issuances, and each service’s own publications site. For a live problem, the guide to matching a problem to the right help comes first; this page lists the official texts and the self-service tools.
Sources checked: September 26, 2026
Where the official texts are published
| What you need | Where it is published | Who maintains it |
|---|---|---|
| The UCMJ (10 U.S.C. 801 to 946a) | Title 10, chapter 47 of the U.S. Code | Congress; Cornell's Legal Information Institute hosts a free copy |
| Rules for Courts-Martial and Military Rules of Evidence | Manual for Courts-Martial, current edition, plus amendments the Joint Service Committee lists separately on the same page | Joint Service Committee on Military Justice |
| DoD instructions (DoDI) | DoD issuances index | Executive Services Directorate |
| Army regulations and DA forms | Army publications site | Army Publishing Directorate |
| Air Force instructions (AFI, DAFI) | Air Force e-Publishing | Department of the Air Force |
| Marine Corps orders | Marine Corps publications page | Headquarters Marine Corps |
| Navy personnel rules | MILPERSMAN | Navy Personnel Command |
| SCRA (50 U.S.C. 3901 to 4043) | Title 50, chapter 50 of the U.S. Code | Congress |
| Appellate military case law | Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces | The court |
Sources for the table: UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. chapter 47, Joint Service Committee, current publications, DoD instructions, Army Publishing Directorate, Air Force e-Publishing, Marine Corps publications, MILPERSMAN, SCRA, 50 U.S.C. chapter 50, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Three habits make these sources reliable:
- Read the rule from its publisher, not from a summary. The Marine Corps page describes itself as providing “direction to authentic current digital versions of publications”; a copy found elsewhere may be out of date. For the Manual for Courts-Martial, that also means checking the amendments posted after the edition, since a printed edition does not include later executive-order changes.
- Check that the regulation is still in force. The Air Force’s DAFI 36-3211, dated 24 June 2022, lists “AFI36-3208, 9 July 2004” among the instructions it supersedes (DAFI 36-3211). A guide that still cites AFI 36-3208 is citing a replaced rule.
- Match the service. An Army regulation does not govern a sailor. Each service publishes its own rules, under its own numbers, on the same subject.
What the terms in these texts mean is defined in the glossary of paperwork terms.
Official self-service tools
| Task | Tool | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Find a legal assistance office | Armed Forces Legal Assistance locator | Run by the Air Force; has a branch-of-service field and searches offices "within the continental United States (CONUS)" |
| Get a DD-214 or service record copy | National Archives | Free copies of the DD-214 for most veterans and next of kin |
| Challenge a VA decision | VA decision reviews | Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, or Board appeal |
| Find non-legal family support (moving, benefits, counseling) | Military OneSource | "24/7 support for service members, spouses, their family and survivors" |
| Check whether someone is on active duty | DMDC's SCRA website | Described by the Justice Department as a "Public database used to identify periods of military service" |
Sources for the table: Air Force legal assistance locator, National Archives, VA decision reviews, Military OneSource, U.S. Department of Justice.
For deeper study
- The National Institute of Military Justice, a private organization “dedicated to the fair administration of justice in the armed forces and improved public understanding of military justice” (NIMJ).
- The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, the Army’s school for military lawyers, whose periodicals include the Military Law Review (TJAGLCS).
- The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which “exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over members of the armed forces on active duty and other persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice” (CAAF). Its opinions show how the rules are applied.
When a question turns on a rule, read the current version from the publisher above for the right service; when it turns on your own case, bring it to the office that handles that kind of problem. This page lists sources as they stood on the date above; addresses and document numbers change.