
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC2579]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
                PART IV--SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT
 
CHAPTER 153--EXCHANGE OF MATERIAL AND DISPOSAL OF OBSOLETE, SURPLUS, OR 
                           UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
 
Sec. 2579. War booty: procedures for handling and retaining 
        battlefield objects
        
    (a) Policy.--The United States recognizes that battlefield souvenirs 
have traditionally provided military personnel with a valued memento of 
service in a national cause. At the same time, it is the policy and 
tradition of the United States that the desire for souvenirs in a combat 
theater not blemish the conduct of combat operations or result in the 
mistreatment of enemy personnel, the dishonoring of the dead, 
distraction from the conduct of operations, or other unbecoming 
activities.
    (b) Regulations.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe 
regulations for the handling of battlefield objects that are consistent 
with the policies expressed in subsection (a) and the requirements of 
this section.
    (2) When forces of the United States are operating in a theater of 
operations, enemy material captured or found abandoned shall be turned 
over to appropriate United States or allied military personnel except as 
otherwise provided in such regulations. A member of the armed forces (or 
other person under the authority of the armed forces in a theater of 
operations) may not (except in accordance with such regulations) take 
from a theater of operations as a souvenir an object formerly in the 
possession of the enemy.
    (3) Such regulations shall provide that a member of the armed forces 
who wishes to retain as a souvenir an object covered by paragraph (2) 
may so request at the time the object is turned over pursuant to 
paragraph (2).
    (4) Such regulations shall provide for an officer to be designated 
to review requests under paragraph (3). If the officer determines that 
the object may be appropriately retained as a war souvenir, the object 
shall be turned over to the member who requested the right to retain it.
    (5) Such regulations shall provide for captured weaponry to be 
retained as souvenirs, as follows:
        (A) The only weapons that may be retained are those in 
    categories to be agreed upon jointly by the Secretary of Defense and 
    the Secretary of the Treasury.
        (B) Before a weapon is turned over to a member, the weapon shall 
    be rendered unserviceable.
        (C) A charge may be assessed in connection with each weapon in 
    an amount sufficient to cover the full cost of rendering the weapon 
    unserviceable.

(Added Pub. L. 103-160, div. A, title XI, Sec. 1171(a)(1), Nov. 30, 
1993, 107 Stat. 1765.)


                               Regulations

    Section 1171(b) of Pub. L. 103-160 provided that: ``The initial 
regulations required by section 2579 of title 10, United States Code, as 
added by subsection (a), shall be prescribed not later than 270 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 30, 1993]. Such 
regulations shall specifically address the following, consistent with 
section 2579 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(a):
        ``(1) The general procedures for collection and disposition of 
    weapons and other enemy material.
        ``(2) The criteria and procedures for evaluation and disposition 
    of enemy material for intelligence, testing, or other military 
    purposes.
        ``(3) The criteria and procedures for determining when retention 
    of enemy material by an individual or a unit in the theater of 
    operations may be appropriate.
        ``(4) The criteria and procedures for disposition of enemy 
    material to a unit or other Department of Defense entity as a 
    souvenir.
        ``(5) The criteria and procedures for disposition of enemy 
    material to an individual as an individual souvenir.
        ``(6) The criteria and procedures for determining when 
    demilitarization or the rendering unserviceable of firearms is 
    appropriate.
        ``(7) The criteria and procedures necessary to ensure that 
    servicemembers who have obtained battlefield souvenirs in a manner 
    consistent with military customs, traditions, and regulations have a 
    reasonable opportunity to obtain possession of such souvenirs, 
    consistent with the needs of the service.''
