Article 128 With Article 93 in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 128 › Army, with Article 93

Based on 26 cases · 2021–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Full Acquittals

A full acquittal means a finding of not guilty on every charge. In this group, 8 of 15 contested cases that reached a verdict ended that way. The 53% rate is higher than the 30% for all Army Article 128 cases from 2021 to 2026.

The other 7 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals appear often in Army records.

Contested More Often

15 accused contested at least one charge, and 11 pleaded guilty. The contested share was 58%. Across all Army Article 128 cases, it was 37%. A contested case is one with a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.

All 11 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records show that an agreement existed. They do not show its terms.

A Group Made Up Mostly of NCOs

NCOs were 88% of the accused. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 8%, and officers were 4%. In all Army Article 128 cases, junior enlisted members made up 56% of the accused.

Maltreatment under Article 93 involves a person subject to the accused's orders. The records list rank but do not describe the people involved or the conduct. The rank mix here is more senior than in the wider group of Army Article 128 cases.

Sentences After Conviction

Of the 26 cases, 8 ended in a full acquittal, and 18 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 13 of those 18 sentences included confinement (72%). The median confinement was 5 months, close to the 6 months in all Army Article 128 cases. A quarter of the terms were 2.7 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, meaning the sentence set at trial. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal can change it later. A sentence also covers every charge in the case, not only the assault or maltreatment.

Punitive Discharges

Among 17 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (59%). That is less often than in all Army Article 128 cases (70%). 4 of the 10 were dishonorable discharges.

1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in this group, and none was dismissed. For any service member, a sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation.

Forum and Court Level

A military judge alone decided guilt in 18 cases. Enlisted panels heard 6 and an officer panel heard 1. Members heard 28% of the cases, compared with 23% in all Army Article 128 cases. Among contested cases, members heard 7 of 14 (50%).

General courts-martial heard 16 of the 25 cases with a court level listed (64%). The court level is not listed for 1 case. Special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge.

Other Charges in These Cases

No case charged Article 128 alone. Besides Article 93, the most common other charges were Article 92 (orders violation) in 12 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 11, Article 134 (general article) in 9, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 5.

When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, the assault count can describe part of the same incident. A case is counted under each article it included.

Years and Installations

The 26 cases were tried from April 2021 through July 2026. By year: 8 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 5 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 2 in 2026, a partial year.

Fort Campbell had 4 cases. Vilseck (Europe) and Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 3 each, and Camp Humphreys and Fort Wainwright had 2 each. These five account for 54% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

What the Records Leave Out

The records hold trial dates, not offense dates. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses; Article 128 assault is not itself one. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Trials from 2024 on include cases under both old and new rules.

The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. 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.