Army Cases Charging Both Article 112a and Article 121

Trends › By Offense › Article 112a › Army, with Article 121

Based on 21 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Almost Every Case Was a Guilty Plea

Guilty pleas: 19. Contested: 2. The contested share was 10%, compared with 14% in the Army as a whole for Article 112a cases. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either as a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.

Of the 19 guilty pleas, 18 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said. With only 2 contested cases, the records give no useful acquittal figures for this pairing.

No Panels of Members

A military judge alone decided guilt in 21 of 21 cases with the forum listed (100%). Members heard 0 cases: 0 enlisted panels and 0 officer panels.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so this split mostly follows the small number of contested cases.

Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 89% of enlisted convictions here. There were 15 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. In all Army Article 112a cases in 2021–2026, the rate was 81%.

3 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in this group, and 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Confinement and Its Length

All 21 cases ended in a conviction, and confinement was part of 86% of the 21 convictions. Half of those terms were 5 months or less. The median in the rest of the Army was also 5 months. A quarter of the terms were 8 months or longer.

Sentences of more than 1 year came less often than in the rest of the Army: 2 of 21 convictions (10%), compared with 17%. Terms under 6 months made up 52% of convictions, compared with 46%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 24%, compared with 27%. Convictions with no confinement made up 14%, compared with 11%.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Rank of the Accused

By rank, 13 of the accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 5 were NCOs, and 3 were officers. This group is more senior than the accused in Army-wide Article 112a cases.

Court Level

General courts-martial made up 65% of the 20 cases with a court level listed (13 of 20). Special courts-martial made up the rest. The court level is not listed for 1 case. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone. In that form, confinement is capped at six months and no punitive discharge can be imposed.

What Else Was Charged

Each of the 21 cases charged at least one other article besides Article 112a. After Article 121, the most common were Article 92 (orders violation) in 10 cases, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 6, Article 81 (conspiracy) in 5, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 4. A sentence covers all charges in the case together.

When and Where the Cases Were Tried

The cases run from March 2021 to February 2026. There were 6 in 2021, 7 in 2022, 2 in 2023, 4 in 2024, 1 in 2025, and 1 in 2026, a partial year.

Fort Hood and Fort Bliss had 3 cases each. Wheeler Army Airfield, Fort Sill, and Fort Bragg had 2 each. Together these five installations account for 57% of the 21 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Limits of the Records

Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They do not show the evidence or the plea terms. They give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show whether the sentencing rules for offenses after December 27, 2023 applied. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 112a on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Drug Use: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial · Drug Distribution: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial · Theft and Fraud: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.