Line of duty and misconduct
United States Code
Citation analytics
How this statute sits in the citation network, derived from CiteLaw's graph of published opinions.
★Highly CitedTop 3% most-cited · cited by 67 decisions
67
Citing decisions
6+
Courts citing
Citations by decade
3
10
19
31
4
1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
Courts citing this statute
Most recently cited by10
- 2025Carter v. United States SCOTUS
- 2025Cloud v. Collins Fed. Cir.
- 2022Carter v. McDonough Fed. Cir.
- 2020Simmons v. Wilkie Fed. Cir.
- 201817-34 637 Board of Vet. App.
- 201812-07 528 Board of Vet. App.
- 2018Richard D. Simmons v. Robert L. Wilkie Vet. App.
- 201815-44 238 Board of Vet. App.
- 2017Crediford v. Shulkin Fed. Cir.
- 201798-16 124 Board of Vet. App.
Counts reflect decisions in the CiteLaw corpus and may lag very recent opinions.
Text
An injury or disease incurred during active military, naval, air, or space service will be deemed to have been incurred in line of duty and not the result of the veteran’s own misconduct when the person on whose account benefits are claimed was, at the time the injury was suffered or disease contracted, in active military, naval, air, or space service, whether on active duty or on authorized leave, unless such injury or disease was a result of the person’s own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs. Venereal disease shall not be presumed to be due to willful misconduct if the person in service complies with the regulations of the appropriate service department requiring the person to report and receive treatment for such disease. The requirement for line of duty will not be met if it appears that at the time the injury was suffered or disease contracted the person on whose account benefits are claimed (1) was avoiding duty by deserting the service or by absenting himself or herself without leave materially interfering with the performance of military duties; (2) was confined under sentence of court-martial involving an unremitted dishonorable discharge; or (3) was confined under sentence of a civil court for a felony (as determined under the laws of the jurisdiction where the person was convicted by such court). For the purposes of any provision relating to the extension of a delimiting period under any education-benefit or rehabilitation program administered by the Secretary, the disabling effects of chronic alcoholism shall not be considered to be the result of willful misconduct. (Source: (Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1110; Pub. L. 99–576, title VII, § 701(4), Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3290; Pub. L. 100–689, title I, § 109, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4170; Pub. L. 101–508, title VIII, § 8052(a)(1), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–351; Pub. L. 102–83, § 4(a)(1), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 403; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title IX, § 926(a)(2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3829.))