Article 128 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025

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Based on 510 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Cases Each Year

The records show 510 convictions under Article 128 between January 2021 and December 2025. The yearly count was lower each year: 156 in 2021, 105 in 2022, 92 in 2023, 91 in 2024, and 66 in 2025. Trial records do not explain changes like this. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Fort Campbell had the most cases, 46. Fort Bliss had 43, Fort Hood 41, Fort Bragg 36, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord 30. These 5 installations account for 38% of the 510 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.

Sentences Close to the Army as a Whole

433 of the 510 convictions included confinement. 77 (15%) had no confinement, compared with 17% of all Army convictions. The median confinement was 5 months. A quarter of the sentences were 1.5 years or longer.

45% of convictions were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 39% Army-wide. 128 of 510 (25%) were sentenced to more than one year, about the same as the 28% across the Army. Of those, 87 were more than 1 year and under 5 years, and 41 were 5 years or more. Sentences of 5 years or more were 8% here and 8% Army-wide.

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

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 128 was the only charge in 165 of the 510 cases. The most common other charge was Article 134 (general article), in 95 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 86, Article 92 (orders violation) in 60, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 51, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 50.

When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, both charges can describe parts of the same incident. The sentence covers the whole case. The records cannot separate the part of a sentence for the assault charge from the part for other charges.

Court Level

383 of the 499 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (77%), compared with 72% of all Army convictions. 116 were special courts-martial. The court level is not listed for 11 cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 8 months, and 28% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 3 months, and 17% were contested.

Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

A plea appears in 508 of the 510 records: 381 guilty pleas and 127 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 360 of the 381 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 21 have no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not its terms. The contested share was 25%, compared with 21% for all Army convictions.

Every case here ended in a conviction, so none ended in a full acquittal. A contested case can still end in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common.

Judge or Members?

A military judge alone decided guilt in 443 cases (87%). Members heard 67: 56 enlisted panels and 11 officer panels. In contested cases, members heard 64 of 127 (50%). The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Discharges and Dismissals

336 of 472 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (71%), about the same as the 73% for all Army convictions. 73 of those were dishonorable discharges. 17 of 38 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

By rank, the accused were 304 junior enlisted members, 168 NCOs, and 38 officers, That mix is similar to all Army convictions in those years.

Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as domestic violence. Assault is not itself a covered offense, but special trial counsel can also take a related assault. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records also do not show the evidence or the plea terms. Assaults handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear.

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.