Article 120 With Article 80 in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Army, with Article 80

Based on 30 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Few Full Acquittals Among Contested Cases

Of 26 contested cases that reached a verdict, 5 ended in a full acquittal (19%). For Article 120 cases in the Army as a whole, the full-acquittal rate was 45%.

20 contested cases (77%) ended in a partial acquittal. The accused in those cases was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army records.

Only 4 Guilty Pleas

4 accused pleaded guilty and 26 contested at least one charge. That is 87% contested, compared with 71% in the rest of the Army. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea.

With guilty pleas this rare, the results here come almost entirely from contested trials.

Members Heard 62% of the Cases

Enlisted panels heard 13 cases and officer panels heard 5. A military judge alone heard 11. Members heard 62% of the cases, compared with 47% in Army-wide Article 120 cases. In contested cases, members heard 17 of 25 (68%).

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.

Confinement, Including 1 Life Sentence

25 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those, 19 sentences included confinement (76%). The median was 2.5 years, longer than the 1.8-year median in the Army as a whole. A quarter of the sentences were 6 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.

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

Sentence Bands Compared

Convictions with no confinement made up 24% of this group, compared with 12% in Army-wide Article 120 cases. Terms under 6 months made up 8%, compared with 17%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 16%, compared with 14%.

Sentences of more than 1 year came in 13 of 25 convictions (52%), compared with 56% in Army Article 120 cases overall. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years made up 32%, compared with 38%. Terms of 5 years or more made up 20%, compared with 19%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than 1 year of confinement.

Dishonorable Discharges Were Most Common

18 of 21 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. Of those, 14 were dishonorable discharges and 4 were bad-conduct discharges. In Army-wide Article 120 cases, the punitive discharge share was 82%.

Of the 4 officers or warrant officers convicted, 3 received a dismissal, which is the officer counterpart to a punitive discharge. Members who left without a punitive discharge could still face an administrative separation, and those separations are outside these records.

Rank and Other Charges

By rank, 14 of the accused were NCOs, 12 were junior enlisted members, and 4 were officers. The group is more senior than all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2026.

Article 80 covers attempts to commit an offense. Besides Article 80, the most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 18 of the 30 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 5, Article 92 (orders violation) in 4, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 4.

Years and Installations

There were 10 cases in 2021, 5 in 2022, 8 in 2023, 5 in 2024, 1 in 2025, and 1 in 2026, a partial year.

Fort Hood had the most cases (5), followed by Fort Bragg (4), Fort Carson (3), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (3), and Fort Campbell (2). These five installations account for 57% of the 30 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone says little about any one base.

What the Records Cannot Show

The records list trial dates but not offense dates. Prosecution decisions for covered offenses, which include Article 120, moved from commanders to special trial counsel on December 28, 2023, and offenses after December 27, 2023 fall under new sentencing parameters, so trials from 2024 on mix cases under both sets of rules.

The evidence and the plea terms are not in the records either. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action never appear. Army records in this data are also 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.