Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128b in the Army

Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 225 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Cases After 2021

The 225 cases were tried between March 2021 and December 2025. The yearly counts were 16 in 2021, 38 in 2022, 62 in 2023, 58 in 2024, and 51 in 2025.

Article 128b covers only offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Domestic violence before that date was charged under other articles. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and they cannot explain the higher yearly counts after 2021.

Most Accused Pleaded Guilty

183 accused pleaded guilty and 42 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 19%, lower than the 30% in all Army Article 128b cases.

173 of the 183 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 10 have no entry. Army records say that an agreement existed, not what it said. Any sentence limit in an agreement does not appear in this data.

Punitive Discharges

168 of 212 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (79%), higher than the 73% in all Army Article 128b cases. 27 of those were dishonorable discharges, the most severe form, which only a general court-martial can adjudge.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

How Much Confinement?

183 of 212 convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for all Army Article 128b cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1.3 years or longer.

50 of 212 convictions (24%) were sentenced to more than one year, about the same as the 21% in all Army Article 128b cases. 23% of convictions here were sentenced to 6 months to 1 year, compared with 19%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

General and Special Courts-Martial

158 of the 223 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (71%). At those, the median confinement was 9 months, and 25% of cases were contested. At the 65 special courts-martial, the median was 3 months, and 5% were contested. The court level is not listed for 2 cases.

A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

Verdicts in Contested Cases

31% of the 42 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, the same as the 31% in all Army Article 128b cases. 21 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge.

Members returned a full acquittal in 33% of the contested cases they decided (10 of 30), and a military judge alone in 10% (1 of 10). These 40 cases are the decided contested cases with the forum listed. The judge-alone count is small. The accused usually chooses the forum, so the records cannot show whether the forum made the difference.

Who Decided Guilt?

A military judge alone decided 192 cases. Enlisted panels heard 29 and officer panels 2. Members heard 14% of the cases, compared with 21% in all Army Article 128b cases. Among contested cases, members heard 30 of 40 (75%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Other Charges and Installations

103 of the 225 cases charged Article 128b by itself. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 35, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 33, Article 92 (orders violation) in 28, Article 134 (general article) in 20, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 18.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord tried 26 of the cases, Fort Hood 25, Fort Bragg 20, Fort Bliss 18, and Fort Campbell 13. Together they account for 45% of the 225 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show that a base has a problem with domestic violence.

Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

Article 128b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records do not give offense dates, so trials from 2024 on cannot be sorted into old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records also do not show the evidence, the plea terms, protective orders, or cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. They show only cases that reached a courtroom.

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

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.