Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 80 in the Army

Trends › By Offense › Article 80 › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 100 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Contested Cases

Of the 99 records that list a plea, 77 were guilty pleas and 22 were contested. A contested case has a not-guilty or mixed plea to at least one charge. The contested share of 22% is lower than the 34% across all Army Article 80 cases.

Plea agreements are recorded for 67 of the 77 guilty pleas, and 10 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 80 makes it a crime to attempt another offense, so the charge always concerns some other conduct. Article 80 was the only charge in 23 of the 100 cases. Across all Army Article 80 cases, it was the only charge in 44 of 181.

The most common other charges were Article 134 (general article) in 31 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 24, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 12, Article 121 (larceny) in 12, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 12. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not the attempt alone.

Punitive Discharges

Of 94 convicted enlisted members, 89 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (95%). That is higher than the 90% across all Army Article 80 cases.

Of those 89, 43 were dishonorable discharges. A dishonorable discharge is the more serious type, and only a general court-martial can impose it.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not cover administrative separations.

Confinement About the Same as for the Offense Overall

94 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those, 85 sentences included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 1.3 years, about the same as the 1.2 years for all Army Article 80 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer.

Sentences longer than one year were 47 of 94 convictions (50%), about the same as the 48% for the offense overall. The shares for each sentence length are close to those for the offense overall. Sentences of 5 years or more were 15% in both groups.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

General and Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial were 88% of these cases (88 of 100). At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.5 years, and 25% of cases were contested. At the 12 special courts-martial, the median was 4 months, and 0% were contested.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial can impose no more than one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Results in Contested Cases

Full acquittals were 27% of the 22 contested cases that reached a verdict. That is about the same as the 26% across all Army Article 80 cases.

Another 13 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common.

With only 22 contested cases, a few verdicts can change these percentages. The records cannot show why any case ended as it did.

Who Decided Guilt?

A judge alone decided 89 cases. Enlisted panels decided 9 and officer panels decided 2. Members decided 11% of the cases, compared with 19% in all Army Article 80 cases. Members decided 9 of 22 contested cases (41%).

The accused usually chooses the forum, and guilty pleas are almost always decided by a military judge alone.

Years and Installations

The 100 cases were tried from February 2021 through November 2025. There were 27 in 2021, 20 in 2022, 22 in 2023, 17 in 2024, and 14 in 2025.

Wheeler Army Airfield had the most cases, with 14. Next were Fort Hood (12), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (9), Fort Campbell (7), and Fort Drum (6). Together these five account for 48% of the 100 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so this list does not measure misconduct at any installation.

What the Records Do Not Show

Since December 28, 2023, new sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records have trial dates only, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and the new rules.

The data here does not show which offense was attempted in each case. The records do not describe the evidence or give plea terms. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 80 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.