> ## 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. # What Happens to Army Officers Facing Assault Charges? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-officers/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:22.000Z - Description: The Army tried 44 courts-martial from 2021 through 2025 that charged officers and warrant officers with assault under Article 128. 3 of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (17%), compared with 30% in all Army Article 128 cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 128, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 128](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) › Officers **Short answer:** The Army tried 44 courts-martial from 2021 through 2025 that charged officers and warrant officers with assault under Article 128\. 3 of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (17%), compared with 30% in all Army Article 128 cases. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months in all Army Article 128 cases. Based on 44 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Fewer Full Acquittals at Trial 3 of 18 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge. The full-acquittal rate was 17%, lower than the 30% in all Army Article 128 cases. 12 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, which is why partial acquittals are common in this data. With 18 contested cases, a few verdicts can change these percentages. ## Officers Contested Slightly More Often 43 records list a plea. 25 were guilty pleas and 18 were contested, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea to at least one charge. The contested share was 42%, slightly higher than the 38% in all Army Article 128 cases. 24 of the 25 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 1 has no entry. The records show that an agreement was made, not what it said. ## Many Convictions Had No Confinement 63% of the 41 convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months in all Army Article 128 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. 37% of convictions here had no confinement, compared with 17% in all Army Article 128 cases. 5 of 41 convictions (12%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 26%. Every figure is an adjudged sentence, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all charges in the case. Officers cannot receive a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. These figures do not show how often convicted officers were dismissed. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army Article 128 cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------------------- | | No confinement | 15 | 37% | 17% | | Under 6 months | 16 | 39% | 43% | | 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 12% | 14% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 5% | 17% | | 5 years or more | 3 | 7% | 9% | ## Other Charges in the Same Cases 33 of the 44 cases charged at least one other article besides assault. The most common other charge was Article 133 (conduct unbecoming), in 14 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 13, Article 134 (general article) in 8, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 5, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 5. When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, the assault charge can describe part of the same incident. The sentence covers the whole case, not the assault alone. ## Court Level 40 cases were general courts-martial and 3 were special courts-martial, and 1 did not list the level. The general share was 93%, higher than the 80% in all Army Article 128 cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year. ## Who Decided Guilt? A military judge alone decided 35 cases. Officer panels heard 8, and no case went to an enlisted panel. Members heard 19% of the cases, compared with 24% in all Army Article 128 cases. Among contested cases, members heard 8 of 17 (47%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows the number of guilty pleas. ## Years and Installations In all Army Article 128 cases, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 56% of the accused. Officers are a small part of Army assault cases. The 44 cases were tried between January 2021 and December 2025: 14 in 2021, 7 in 2022, 8 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 9 in 2025. Fort Bragg had the most cases, 7\. Fort Bliss had 4, Wheeler Army Airfield 4, Fort Rucker 3, and Camp Humphreys 3\. Together they account for 48% of the 44 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense. ## Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show Assault is not itself a covered offense, but since December 28, 2023, a special trial counsel who takes a covered offense can also take a related assault, such as one tied to a domestic violence allegation. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023\. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both sets of rules. These records do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative actions such as officer separation boards. They also do not show the evidence or the plea terms. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?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 tried 2021–2025 that charged officers and warrant officers under Article 128 (44 cases), compared with every Army Article 128 case. 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 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128 in the Army](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-junior-enlisted/) - [What Happens to Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Assault Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-ncos/) - [Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128 in the Air Force](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-junior-enlisted/) - [Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-trend-2021-2025/) - [Fewer or More? Assault Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-trend-2016-2025/) - [Article 128 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **Compare: federal court.** [Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-aggravated-assault-vs-army/) **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.