> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Article 115 With Article 134 in the Army: What the Records Show - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-134-charged-together/ - Published: 2026-10-30T05:28:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:17:44.000Z - Description: From 2021 to 2026, 23 Army courts-martial charged both communicating threats under Article 115 and the general article, Article 134. Of 13 contested cases with a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (31%), higher than the 26% in all Army Article 115 cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 115, Article 134, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 115](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) › Army, with Article 134 **Short answer:** From 2021 to 2026, 23 Army courts-martial charged both communicating threats under Article 115 and the general article, Article 134\. Of 13 contested cases with a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (31%), higher than the 26% in all Army Article 115 cases. All 19 convictions included confinement, with a median of 6 months, the same as the Army median. Based on 23 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## A Higher Full-Acquittal Rate Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (31%), meaning not guilty of all charges. In all Army Article 115 cases in 2021–2026, the full-acquittal rate was 26%. Another 8 contested cases (62%) ended in a partial acquittal. In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army records. With only 13 contested verdicts, these rates rest on a small number of cases. ## Pleas 10 accused pleaded guilty and 13 contested at least one charge. That is 57% contested, compared with 45% in all Army Article 115 cases in 2021–2026\. A case is contested when the accused enters a not-guilty or mixed plea. Of the 10 guilty pleas, 9 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said. ## NCOs Were the Largest Rank Group NCOs made up 48% of the accused. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 39%, and officers made up 13%. Across the Army as a whole, junior enlisted members were 54% of those charged under Article 115. 3 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in this group, and 1 was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. ## Every Conviction Carried Confinement 19 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 19 of those sentences included confinement (100%). The median was 6 months, close to the 6-month median in all Army Article 115 cases in 2021–2026\. A quarter of the sentences were 1.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case. ## Enlisted Punitive Discharges 10 of 16 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. Of those, 8 were bad-conduct discharges and 2 were dishonorable discharges. In all Army Article 115 cases in 2021–2026, the punitive discharge share was 69%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Administrative separations are not in these records. ## Who Decided Guilt A military judge alone heard 16 cases. An enlisted panel heard 7, and an officer panel heard 0\. Members heard 30% of the cases, compared with 27% in the Army as a whole. In contested cases, members heard 7 of 13 (54%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows how many cases were contested. ## Court Level and Other Charges General courts-martial made up 74% of these cases (17 of 23). Special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year. Article 115 was never the only charge. Besides Article 134, the most common charges were Article 128 (assault) in 16 cases, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 8, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 8, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 6. ## Years and Installations The cases were tried from January 2021 through March 2026\. There were 8 in 2021, 8 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, 1 in 2025, and 1 in 2026, a partial year. Fort Bragg had 8 of the 23 cases. Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 4, Fort Riley and Fort Hood had 2 each, and Kaiserslautern (Europe) had 1\. These five installations account for 74% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. ## What These Records Leave Out The records give trial dates, not offense dates. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply to offenses after December 27, 2023\. The records cannot show which rules applied in a given case. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 115 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army courts-martial with trial dates in 2021–2026 that charged both Article 115 and Article 134 (23 cases), compared with all 112 Army Article 115 cases in those years. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 115 (Malingering Before 2019, Communicating Threats Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Article 134 (General Article): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-134-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Cases Charging Both Article 115 and Article 120](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-120-charged-together/) - [Army Cases Charging Both Article 115 and Article 128b](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-128b-charged-together/) - [Army Cases Charging Both Article 115 and Article 90](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-90-charged-together/) - [Army Courts-Martial With Article 115 and Article 92, 2021–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-92-charged-together/) - [Article 115 With Article 128 in the Army: What the Records Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-and-article-128-charged-together/) - [Navy-Marine Corps Cases Charging Both Article 115 and Article 128](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-115-and-article-128-charged-together/) - [Army Cases Charging Both Article 107 and Article 120](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-107-and-article-120-charged-together/) - [Article 115 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.