Any enlisted member of the state military forces who is not a member of the same unit as the accused may serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any enlisted member subject to this code. However, that member shall serve as a member of a court only if, before the conclusion of a session called by the military judge pursuant to § 33-10-116 prior to trial or, in the absence of such a session, before the court is assembled for the trial of the accused, the accused personally has requested orally on the record or in writing that enlisted members serve on it. After such a request, the accused may not be tried by a general or special court-martial the membership of which does not include enlisted members in a number comprising at least one-third of the total membership of the court, unless eligible enlisted members cannot be obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. If such members cannot be obtained, the court may be assembled and the trial held without them, but the convening authority shall make a detailed written statement, to be appended to the record, stating why the members could not be obtained. In this section, unit, means any regularly organized body of the state military forces not larger than a company, a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to one of them.
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