Shutdown and military justice (huh?)

Under the alarming headline "Shutdown could cause court martial for some troops in debt" we have this Federal News Radio piece by Scott Maucione to thank for the following unfortunate comments:

Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families, says the lack of savings combined with a period of no pay could put some service members in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The code states any service member who borrows money and dishonorably fails to pay is in violation and shall be punished by a military court.

The maximum punishment is six months o[f] confinement. Obviously, a person’s military career is severely hampered if found guilty as well.

Let's look at the Manual for Courts-Martial, shall we? Paragraph 71 states the elements of the offense and provides an explanation:

b. Elements.
(1) That the accused was indebted to a certain person or entity in a certain sum;
(2) That this debt became due and payable on or about a certain date;
(3) That while the debt was still due and payable the accused dishonorably failed to pay this debt; and
(4) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces. 

c. Explanation. More than negligence in nonpayment is necessary. The failure to pay must be characterized by deceit, evasion, false promises, or other distinctly culpable circumstances indicating a deliberate nonpayment or grossly indifferent attitude toward
one’s just obligations. For a debt to form the basis of this offense, the accused must not have had a defense, or an equivalent offset or counterclaim, either in fact or according to the accused’s belief, at the time alleged. The offense should not be charged if there was a genuine dispute between the parties as to the facts or law relating to the debt which would affect the obligation of the accused to pay. The offense is not committed if the creditor or creditors involved are satisfied with the conduct of the debtor with respect to payment. The length of the period of nonpayment and any denial of indebtedness which
the accused may have made may tend to prove that the accused’s conduct was dishonorable, but the court-martial may convict only if it finds from all of the evidence that the conduct was in fact dishonorable. [Highlighting added.]

Honk if you think any member of the armed forces should be losing sleep for fear of a court-martial because s/he won't be able to make a car payment on time as a result of the shutdown.

The shutdown will certainly raise a host of legal concerns; this isn't one of them.