Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military.
Failure to obey order or regulation Any person subject to this chapter who— ... (3) is derelict in the performance of his duties;
[4] A duty is imposed in any one of the following ways:[4] That the service member possessed actual knowledge of his duties may be proved via:[4] UCMJ Article 113 ("Misbehavior of sentinel") includes components of behavior[5] that are, in themselves, examples of dereliction of duty:[3] Both a Staff Sergeant and an Airman First Class stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base had their pay reduced by $300 and $200 pay per month, respectively, for two months, when their actions resulted in a delayed launch and subsequent aircraft shutdown.
[6] In August 1988, Marine Lance Corporal Jason Rother died on a desert exercise at Twentynine Palms, California.
First Lieutenant Allen Lawson was charged and convicted of dereliction of duty for disobeying orders (to submit a roster of posted Marines and locations to his superior officer, Captain Edwards) and for failing to post two subordinates as a pair (as ordered by the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robeson).