How does capital punishment work in the U.S. military?

Capital punishment is a legal penalty within the United States military's martial criminal justice system for specific offenses committed by servicemembers and enemy combatants. Although legally permitted, executions have been extremely rare in modern decades, with the last execution taking place in 1961. The methods and regulations surrounding military executions are determined by the executive branch and military leadership, shifting from hanging and lethal injection to directives concerning firing squads.

What we know

• The use of capital punishment is a legal penalty in the martial criminal justice system of the United States military and applies to both servicemembers and enemy combatants. [1, 2]
• The U.S. military has not carried out an execution since 1961, when John A. Bennett was executed for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl. [1, 2]
• The method of execution last used by the U.S. military was hanging, while Army Regulation 190-55 specified lethal injection until 2019. [1, 2]
• In 2026, President Donald Trump directed the military to perform executions by firing squad, after which the choice of method became the decision of the Secretary of the Army following a recommendation by the Provost Marshal General. [1, 2]

Where to go next

• compared withHow is capital punishment handled by the federal civilian government?
• whoWho was John A. Bennett?
• how it workedWhat are the rules for military trials and courts-martial?
• the bigger pictureHow do individual U.S. states manage the death penalty?
• whenWhat historical conflicts saw military executions?
• an unexpected connectionWhy was a public military execution proposed decades after public executions ended?Although the U.S. phased out public civilian executions by 1936, a modern military execution was briefly planned for public broadcast before being canceled following backlash.

Sources

• [1]capital punishment by the United States military (Wikidata Q5035719) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Capital punishment by the United States military · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Capital punishment in the United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Capital punishment by the United States federal government · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Capital punishment in California · CC BY-SA 4.0