Executive Order 12018—American Prisoners of War

AMENDING THE MANUAL FOR COURTS-MARTIAL, UNITED STATES, 1969 (REVISED EDITION) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States who are captured and held prisoner by a hostile armed force are effectively outside the direct operational control of United States military authorities. Recent conflicts involving members of the Armed Forces indicate a need for establishing and maintaining a chain of command among prisoners of war or detained personnel. The senior member of all Services must be provided the necessary command authority over all members of the Armed Forces with whom he is imprisoned or detained. The present wording in the Manual for Courts-Martial should be amended to provide such authority. Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Chapter 47 of Title 10 of the United States Code) and as President of the United States of America, the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1969 (Revised Edition), prescribed by Executive Order No. 11476 and amended by Executive Order No. 11835, is hereby further amended as follows: SECTION 1. The third paragraph within paragraph 168 is amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting the following in place thereof: "A commissioned officer of one armed force is not 'his superior commissioned officer' with respect to a member of another armed force merely because of higher rank. However, a commissioned officer of one armed force is, within the meaning of Article 89, 'his superior commissioned officer' with respect to a member of another armed force if duly placed in the chain of command over that person. In addition, when members of more than one armed force are prisoners of war or otherwise detained by a hostile entity so that circumstances prevent resort to the normal chain of command, a commissioned officer of one armed force who is not a medical officer or chaplain is 'his Superior commissioned officer' with respect to a member of another armed force who is his junior in rank.". SEC. 2. The first paragraph within paragraph 170a is amended by inserting the following after the second sentence: "A warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer of one armed force who is senior in rank to a member of another armed force is senior to that member under the same circumstances that a commissioned officer of one armed force is the superior commissioned officer of a member of another armed force for the purpose of Article 89 and 90. See 168.". SEC. 3. The first paragraph within paragraph 17lb is amended by inserting the following after "See 138b": "A member of one armed force who is senior in rank to a member of another armed force is the superior of that member with authority to issue orders which that member has a duty to obey under the same circumstances as a commissioned officer of one armed force is the superior commissioned officer of a member of another armed force for the purposes of Articles 89 and 90. See 168.". JIMMY CARTER The White House, November 3, 1977. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3:52 p.m., November 3, 1977]