Guilty Pleas in Army Drunken Or Reckless Driving Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
The Army tried 62 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 113 (drunken or reckless driving). Only 41% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, lower than the 75% for all Army guilty pleas.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 113 › Guilty Pleas in Army Drunken Or Reckless
Short answer: The Army tried 62 guilty-plea courts-martial from 2021–2025 that included Article 113 (drunken or reckless driving). Only 41% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, lower than the 75% for all Army guilty pleas. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months across Army guilty pleas.
Punitive Discharges Were Less Common
A punitive discharge was adjudged in 41% of enlisted convictions in driving cases: 20 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. Across all Army guilty pleas in those years, 75% did.
None of the 6 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which is outside these records.
More Convictions Without Confinement
Confinement was part of 77% of the 62 convictions. The other 14 convictions (23%) included none. Across Army guilty pleas, 14% had no confinement.
When confinement was imposed, half of the terms were 4 months or less, lower than the 5-month median for all Army guilty pleas. A quarter were 7 months or longer. Terms under 6 months made up 53% of convictions, compared with 44% for the wider group.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they reflect every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army guilty pleas in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 14 | 23% | 14% |
| Under 6 months | 33 | 53% | 44% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 13% | 18% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 10% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 2% | 6% |
Sentences by Court Level
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The records list 23 driving cases at each level, with 16 not listed.
Sentences were different at the two levels. At general courts-martial, 100% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 6 months. At special courts-martial, 61% did, and the median was 47 days.
General courts-martial were 50% of the cases with a court level listed, compared with 68% across all Army guilty pleas in those years. Driving cases went to special courts-martial more often than the Army average.
Sentences Over a Year Were Uncommon
Only 7 of 62 convictions (11%) included more than one year, compared with 24% across Army guilty pleas. Of those, 6 were between 1 and 5 years, and 1 was 5 years or more. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 13%, compared with 18%.
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. General courts-martial were a smaller share of these cases, and terms over one year were less common. The records do not show how the court level was chosen in any case.
Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge
In 33 of the 62 cases, the accused faced at least one other article besides Article 113. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 14 cases, Article 134 (the general article) in 8, Article 92 (orders violation) in 5, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) and Article 112a (drugs) in 4 each.
A sentence covers all the charges. In cases that also included an assault or drug charge, the confinement and discharge figures cover those charges too.
Rank, Pleas, and Who Decided
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) accounted for 52% of the accused, NCOs 39%, and officers 10%. Across Army guilty pleas, junior enlisted members made up 60%, so this group was more senior.
Plea agreements are recorded for 60 of the 62 guilty pleas, and 2 have no entry. The records show that an agreement existed but not its terms. A military judge alone heard all 62 cases, which is usual for a guilty plea.
Cases by Installation and Year
Fort Wainwright had 14 of these cases, more than any other installation. Camp Humphreys had 6, Fort Hood and Fort Leonard Wood 5 each, and Fort Bliss 4. Together these five installations had 55% of the 62 cases. Larger installations try more cases overall, so a count alone does not show that any base has a particular driving problem.
By year, there were 8 cases in 2021, 10 in 2022, 18 in 2023, 16 in 2024, and 10 in 2025, between February 2021 and December 2025.
Rule Changes During the Period
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses. The military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records do not give offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both sets of rules. The records cannot show whether either change affected these results. Covered offenses include sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder, and a driving case can come under the new process when a covered charge is added to it.
Army trial records in this data are sparse before 2021, after Article 140a publication was required by December 2020.
What the Records Omit
The records do not describe blood-alcohol results, injuries, or plea terms. Driving offenses handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 113 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 113 (drunken or reckless driving) (62 cases), compared with all Army guilty pleas in those years.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 113 (Misbehavior of a Sentinel Before 2019, Drunken or Reckless Driving Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- Is Army Drunken Or Reckless Driving Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 113, 2021–2025
- Article 113 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025
- Guilty Pleas in Air Force Drunken Or Reckless Driving Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (another service)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 113 in the Navy-Marine Corps: What Sentences Followed? (another service)
- Guilty Pleas in Army Child Endangerment Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Article 113 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.