Section 47 Failure to appear for duty; excuses; penalty for being absent without leave - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 47. No officer or enlisted person of the armed forces of the commonwealth, not on leave of absence, shall be excused from duty when ordered out under section thirty-eight, forty, forty-one or forty-two, except upon a physician’s certificate of disability. If an officer or enlisted person is absent without leave and does not produce such certificate to his commanding officer, he may be tried by court-martial for desertion or absence without leave. Sickness shall not be an excuse unless he procures a certificate or satisfies the court-martial that he was unable to procure the same.