Army Article 131b Cases in 2024
In 2024, 29 Army courts-martial charged Article 131b (obstruction). The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 6 months for all Army cases in 2024. 41% of these cases were contested, compared with 27% Army-wide.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Army, 2024
Short answer: In 2024, 29 Army courts-martial charged Article 131b (obstruction). The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 6 months for all Army cases in 2024. 41% of these cases were contested, compared with 27% Army-wide.
Sentences Longer Than One Year Were More Common
Of 25 convictions on at least one charge, 22 included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 10 months. A quarter of the sentences were 2.5 years or longer.
Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years were 9 convictions (36%), compared with 21% for the Army overall. In all, sentences longer than one year were 10 of 25 convictions (40%), compared with 28% Army-wide.
Sentences under 6 months were the most common length Army-wide, at 43%. Here they were 32%.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover all charges in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army cases in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 12% | 13% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 32% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 16% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 36% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 7% |
Other Charges in Every Case
Article 131b was the only charge in 0 of the 29 cases. The most common other charges were Article 128b (domestic violence) in 9 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 8 each, Article 128 (assault) in 7, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 6.
Domestic violence and sexual assault charges were common in these cases. The sentences cover the full set of charges in each case.
Pleas and Verdicts
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. In this group, 12 accused contested and 17 pleaded guilty. The contested share of 41% was higher than the 27% for the Army as a whole in 2024.
Plea agreements are recorded for 14 of the 17 guilty pleas, and 3 have no entry. The records do not show the terms.
Of the 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (33%). That is lower than the 37% across the Army in 2024. Another 7 ended in a partial acquittal, with not-guilty findings on some charges and guilty findings on others. Only contested cases can end in acquittal, so the acquittal figures are based on those 12 cases.
Who Decided Guilt?
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone decided 24 cases. Enlisted panels decided 2 and officer panels decided 1.
Members decided 11% of cases, compared with 15% Army-wide. In contested cases, members decided 3 of 10 with the forum listed (30%). Most contested cases in this group were decided by a judge alone.
Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge followed 78% of enlisted convictions: 13 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. Across all Army cases, the share was 72%. Of 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was sentenced to dismissal.
Bad-conduct and dishonorable discharges are part of the court-martial sentence. A member who receives neither may still face a later administrative separation.
A dishonorable discharge is the more severe type. 5 members received one, and only a general court-martial can adjudge it.
Rank and Court Level
The accused were 13 junior enlisted members, 13 NCOs, and 3 officers. That group is more senior than Army cases overall in 2024.
General courts-martial decided 22 of 29 cases (76%). A general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial, limited to one year of confinement, decided the rest.
Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement. Sentences longer than one year were 10 of the 25 convictions. A special court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.
Installations
No installation had more than 3 of these cases. Fort Carson, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Bliss, and Fort Hood had 3 each, and Fort Benning had 2. Together they account for 48% of the 29 cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds.
With 29 cases in all, 1 trial can change an installation's place on this list. These counts do not show where obstruction is charged most often.
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 sexual assault and domestic violence. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The 2024 trials therefore include cases under the old rules and the new rules.
The records do not include the evidence or plea terms. They do not include obstruction handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in 2024 that charged Article 131b (29 cases), compared with all Army cases that year and with 2023.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 131b (Obstruction, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Obstruction at Army Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Army Article 131b Cases in 2025 (previous / next)
- How Has Article 131b Changed in Army Courts-Martial Since 2021? (the full trend)
- Army Article 131b Cases in 2022
- How Army Obstruction Cases Ended in 2021
- How Much Confinement for an Article 131b Conviction in the Army?
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice: 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.