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The FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act) does not preclude liability for uniquely governmental functions. See Indian Towing Co. v. United States, 350 U. S. 61, 350 U. S. 64-65 (1955) (disapproving argument that FTCA precludes liability for the performance of 'uniquely governmental functions'); Rayonier, Inc. v. United States, 352 U. S. 315, 352 U. S. 318-319 (1957) (same). See Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950). Members of the military are barred from recovering damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries sustained in military service. The Feres doctrine bars all active duty military claims.
The Feres doctrine started lucidly enough as a rule that barred servicemember's claims under the FTCA for injuries that 'arise out of or are [sustained] in the course of activity incident to service.' Feres, 340 U.S. at 146. This language, which derived from the words characteristically found in both state and federal workers' compensation statutes, was not chosen accidentally. Indeed, at its inception, the rule in Feres is best understood as an attempt to preclude suits by servicemembers against the government because, as military employees, they received government disability and death benefits -- benefits that ...
