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

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

Based on 42 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Cases by Year

Only 2 cases were tried in 2021, and 8 were tried in 2022. The count was 12 in 2023 and 11 in 2024. In 2025 there were 5, and 2026, a partial year, had 4.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Article 120 and domestic violence are both on that list. Offense dates are missing from these records, so trials from 2024 on include some cases under the old rule and some under the new one. The counts by year cannot show whether the change had any effect.

34 of 42 Cases Were Contested

8 accused pleaded guilty, and 34 pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. That makes the contested share 81%. In the rest of the Army, 71% of Article 120 cases were contested.

In 11 of the 34 contested cases that reached a verdict, the accused was found not guilty on every charge. This full-acquittal rate, 32%, is lower than the 45% for all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2026. In 22 more, the finding was guilty on some charges and not guilty on others, a result called a partial acquittal. Because Army results list findings charge by charge, partial acquittals appear often in Army records.

Panels Heard 55% of Cases

Enlisted panels heard 16 cases and officer panels heard 5. A military judge alone heard 17. Members heard 55% of the cases, compared with 47% in the Army as a whole. In contested cases, members heard 21 of 30 (70%).

In most cases the accused chooses between a panel of members and a judge alone. Guilty pleas make up most judge-alone cases.

Confinement Terms

Of 31 convictions, 26 carried confinement. The median was 2.3 years, longer than the 1.8 years for Army-wide Article 120 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 5 years or longer.

18 of 31 convictions (58%) brought more than 1 year, about the same as the 56% for the Army as a whole. By band, 26% of convictions here were 5 years or more (19% Army-wide), 32% were more than 1 year but under 5 years (38%), and 16% had no confinement (12%).

All of these are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence covers every charge in its case.

Punitive Discharges and Dismissals

Of 25 enlisted members convicted, 22 left with a punitive discharge: 14 dishonorable and 8 bad-conduct. The share across all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2026 was 82%.

Officers and warrant officers convicted in this group numbered 6, and 3 of them were dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.

A Senior Group, Almost All at General Courts-Martial

There were 18 junior enlisted members, 16 NCOs, and 8 officers among the accused. This is a more senior group than in Army-wide Article 120 cases.

41 cases were general courts-martial and 1 was a special court-martial. That general share, 98%, compares with 96% across Army-wide Article 120 cases. Any lawful sentence is available at a general court-martial, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal.

Charges Beyond Article 120 and Article 128b

Article 128 (assault) was also charged in 16 of the 42 cases. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 11, Article 115 (communicating threats) in 9, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 7.

Installations

Fort Bragg tried 9 of these cases. Wheeler Army Airfield and Joint Base Lewis-McChord tried 5 each, Fort Carson tried 4, and Vilseck (Europe) tried 3. Those five installations hold 62% of the 42 cases. Bigger installations try more cases of all kinds, so these counts do not single out any one base.

Gaps in the Records

When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Without offense dates, these records cannot say which cases that rule reached. They also leave out the evidence and the plea terms, and they include no nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

The services had to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

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

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.