Army Domestic Violence Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 149 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Cases Each Year

The number of these cases was higher in each year of the period: 14 in 2021, 22 in 2022, 30 in 2023, 39 in 2024, and 44 in 2025. That is 149 cases between January 2021 and December 2025.

Article 128b covers only offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Earlier conduct was charged under other articles. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and do not explain why the count went up.

Less Confinement Than for the Offense Overall

132 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 109 of those sentences included confinement (83%). The median confinement was 4 months, lower than the 6 months for all Army Article 128b cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. 1 was a life sentence.

50% of convictions here were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 43% in all Army Article 128b cases. 24 of 132 convictions (18%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 21%. Each is an adjudged sentence, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and covers every charge in the case.

Fewer Punitive Discharges

63% of convicted enlisted members in this group received a punitive discharge, compared with 73% in all Army Article 128b cases. There were 71 bad-conduct and 12 dishonorable discharges.

For enlisted members, the punitive discharges are bad-conduct and dishonorable. A sentence with neither does not rule out a later administrative separation outside the court-martial.

More Cases Were Contested

90 accused pleaded guilty and 59 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 40%, compared with 30% in all Army Article 128b cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.

84 of the 90 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 6 have no entry. The terms of those agreements are not in the records, so the records cannot show how many capped the sentence.

How Did Contested Cases End?

17 of 59 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (29%), close to the 31% in all Army Article 128b cases. 38 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge.

Members returned a full acquittal in 41% of contested cases (16 of 39). A military judge alone returned a full acquittal in 0% (0 of 19). These 58 cases are the decided contested cases with the forum listed. The accused generally chooses the forum, so the cases in each group are not alike. The records cannot show that the forum caused the difference.

Overall, 27% of cases with the forum listed went to members: 38 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. The other 108 were judge alone. Members heard 39 of 58 contested cases (67%).

Court Level

103 of the 147 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (70%, against 72% in all Army Article 128b cases). At those general courts-martial, the median confinement was 5 months, and 48% of cases were contested. At the 44 special courts-martial, the median was 3 months, and 23% 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.

Other Charges and Installations

85 of the 149 cases charged at least one other article. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 35, Article 134 (general article) in 19, and Article 120 (sexual assault), Article 92 (orders violation), and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 16 each.

Fort Bragg had the most cases, 23. Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 12, Fort Hood 12, Fort Bliss 9, and Vilseck (Europe) 8. Together they account for 43% of the 149 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

Domestic violence under 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 have no offense dates, so trials from 2024 on cannot be sorted by which rules applied.

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

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.