Capital punishment by the United States military The military of the United States executed 160 soldiers and other members of the armed forces between 1942 and 1961 ( these figures do not include German prisoners of war , war criminals , spies , and saboteurs executed by U . S . military authorities between 1942 and 1951 ) . There have been no military executions since 1961 although the death penalty is still a possible punishment for several crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice . Of these executions , 157 were carried out by the United States Army . The United States Air Force conducted the three remaining executions , one in 1950 and two in 1954 . The U . S . Navy has not executed anyone since 1849 . The United States Army had previously executed a total of 36 soldiers during the First World War , all taking place by hanging between 5 November 1917 and 20 June 1919 . Eleven of these hangings were performed in France while the remaining 25 were carried out in continental United States . Of the total , 106 were executed for murder ( including 21 involving rape ) , 53 for rape and one ( Eddie Slovik ) for desertion . Reintroduction of the military death penalty . The death penalty by the U . S . military was reintroduced by the executive order of President Ronald Reagan in 1984 . On July 28 , 2008 , President George W . Bush approved the execution of United States Army Private Ronald A . Gray , who had been convicted in April 1988 of multiple murders and rapes . A month later , Secretary of the Army Pete Geren set an execution date of December 10 , 2008 and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex , Terre Haute . The military publicly released Gray ' s execution date on November 20 , 2008 . On November 26 , however , Gray was granted a stay of execution by federal judge Rogers . He has not yet been executed . Punishable crimes . Currently , under the Uniform Code of Military Justice , 14 offenses are punishable by death . Under the following sections of the UCMJ , the death penalty can be imposed at any time : Four provisions of the UCMJ carry a death sentence only if the crime is committed during times of war : Sentencing and execution . Capital cases are tried in courts - martial before a panel of at least twelve military members . If the defendant is an enlisted servicemember , they may opt for at least one third of the panel to also be of enlisted rank . All members of the panel must outrank the accused . The defendant cannot plead guilty to the charges . The panel must be unanimous in conviction , that the government has proven necessary aggravating factors , that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factor s , and that death is the only sentence applicable . All death sentences are automatically appealed first to the Court of Criminal Appeals for the military service concerned , then to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces . The sentence must be personally confirmed by the President of the United States . Military executions would be conducted under regulations issued on January 17 , 2006 , and would ordinarily take place at the Special Housing Unit of the United States Disciplinary Barracks , Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , although alternative locations are possible ( such as the Federal Correctional Complex , Terre Haute , where federal civilian death row inmates are housed and executed ) . Of five convicted servicemen awaiting execution , four are confined at the Special Housing Unit and one at Camp Lejeune , all of whom have been convicted of premeditated murder or felony murder . Until 1961 , the last military execution to date , hanging was the sole and official method . Later , the military introduced the electric chair , which was never used . Currently , lethal injection is the sole method . Executions during World War II and postwar . The United States Army carried out 141 executions over a three - year period from 1942 to 1945 , and a further six executions were conducted during the postwar period , for a known total of 147 . 70 of these 141 wartime executions were carried out in the European Theatre , 27 in the Mediterranean Theatre , 21 in the Southwest Pacific Area , 19 in the continental United States , two in Hawaii , one in Guadacanal and one in India ; of the six postwar executions , one took place in Hawaii , one in Japan , two in France and two in the Philippines . An execution was also carried out by the United States Air Force in Japan in 1950 . All executions carried out by the Army during 1942 to 1948 were performed under the authority of the Articles of War of June 4 , 1920 , an Act of Congress which governed military justice between 1920 and 1948 . With the exception of Eddie Slovik , who was shot for desertion , all of these soldiers were executed for murder and / or rape . It should be noted that several of the soldiers listed as convicted and executed for murder and / or rape had also been convicted on other charges , including those of a military nature such as desertion and mutiny and plus lesser crimes that would not have been considered capital unless combined with more serious offenses which carried the death penalty . Sources for list in References section . Executions of German POWs during World War II . In 1945 , the United States Army executed fourteen German prisoners of war by hanging at the United States Disciplinary Barracks , Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . These POWs , members of the German Armed services , had been convicted by general court - martial for the murders of fellow Germans believed by their fellow inmates to be collaborating as confidential informants with the United States military authorities . These hangings at the United States Disciplinary Barracks were carried out in a warehouse elevator shaft which had been converted into a temporary gallows . The fourteen Germans were subsequently buried in the Fort Leavenworth Military Prison Cemetery . Executions by the United States Air Force . The United States Air Force has executed a total of three airmen by hanging between 1950 and 1954 . The first execution , that of Robert E . Keller , was conducted under the authority of the 1920 Articles of War ; those of Burns and Dennis , Jr . were carried out under a short - lived revised version of the Articles of War popularly known as the Elston Act of 1948 . Executions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice . A total of ten military executions have been carried out by the United States Army under the provisions of the original Uniform Code of Military Justice of 5 May 1950 . The first four of these executions , those of Bernard J . O ' Brien , Chastine Beverly , Louis M . Suttles and James L . Riggins , were carried out by military officials at the Kansas State Penitentiary near Lansing , Kansas . The remaining six executions took place in the boiler room of the United States Disciplinary Barracks , Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . Hanging was the method employed in these ten executions . Individuals currently awaiting execution under the UCMJ . Five individuals are currently awaiting execution under the UCMJ . The death sentence of a sixth has been overturned on appeal , but that individual remains on death row awaiting a possible appeal by the military . All executions , if carried out , will be by lethal injection . Executions by the United States Navy . The United States Navy has executed approximately seventeen sailors and Marines for various offenses , of which the most famous were several crew members of the USS " Somers " who were summarily hanged for allegedly conspiring to mutiny . No member of the Navy has been executed since 1849 . The United States Navy also executed fourteen Japanese nationals by hanging on charges of war crimes on Guam after the Second World War . Sources . Information on listed military executions between 1942 – 1961 has been primarily derived from the following sources . Research on these executions continues .