Army Courts-Martial With Article 120 and Article 128, 2021–2026

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Army, with Article 128

Based on 180 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Were Contested

Guilty pleas: 39. Contested: 141. The contested share was 78%, compared with 71% in Army Article 120 cases overall. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.

Of the 39 guilty pleas, 33 are recorded with a plea agreement and 6 have no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said.

Full and Partial Acquittals

Of 141 contested cases that reached a verdict, 58 ended in a full acquittal (41%). In Army Article 120 cases overall, the full-acquittal rate was 45%.

Another 74 contested cases (52%) ended in a partial acquittal, meaning 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.

Members and Military Judges in Contested Cases

Of the cases with the forum listed, 55% went to members: 84 enlisted panels and 12 officer panels. The other 77 were decided by a military judge alone. In contested cases, members heard 94 of 134 (70%).

Contested cases decided by members ended in a full acquittal 45% of the time (42 of 94). Contested cases decided by a judge alone ended in a full acquittal 22% of the time (9 of 40). The accused usually chooses the forum, so the cases each one heard are not alike, and these figures do not show how either would have decided the other's cases.

Confinement After a Conviction

Confinement was part of 83% of the 122 convictions. Half of those terms were 2.2 years or less. In the rest of the Army, the Article 120 median was 1.8 years. A quarter of the terms were 5 years or longer.

Sentences of more than 1 year came in 65 of 122 convictions (53%), about the same as the 56% for the Army as a whole. Terms of 5 years or more made up 25% of convictions, compared with 19%. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years made up 29%, compared with 38%. Convictions with no confinement made up 17%, compared with 12%.

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

General Courts-Martial and Special Courts-Martial

169 of the 180 cases were general courts-martial (94%), compared with 96% in Army-wide Article 120 cases. The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2.5 years, and 80% were contested. The 11 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 2 months, and 55% were contested.

A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than 1 year of confinement.

Discharges and Dismissals

A punitive discharge followed 73% of enlisted convictions. There were 57 dishonorable discharges and 24 bad-conduct discharges. In all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2026, the rate was 82%.

11 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and 6 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank of the Accused

Among the accused with rank recorded, 96 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 69 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 14 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than the Army as a whole, where 57% of those charged under Article 120 were junior enlisted.

Other Charges

Article 120 was never the only charge in these cases. Besides Article 128, the most common charges were Article 134 (general article) in 40 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) in 24, Article 107 (false official statement) in 18, and Article 80 (attempt) in 18.

Years, Installations, and Record Limits

There were 71 cases in 2021, 31 in 2022, 36 in 2023, 22 in 2024, 14 in 2025, and 6 in 2026, a partial year. Fort Bragg had the most cases (24), followed by Fort Campbell (19), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (19), Fort Hood (16), and Wheeler Army Airfield (13). These five installations account for 51% of the 180 cases.

Article 120 is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on mix old-rule and new-rule cases. The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial · Aggravated Assault: 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.