Army Article 80 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025

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Based on 181 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Sentences Than Army-Wide

Article 80 makes it a crime to attempt another offense under the code. Of 165 convictions, 149 included confinement. The median confinement was 1.2 years, compared with 6 months for the Army as a whole.

A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer, and 2 were life sentences. Sentences longer than one year were 80 of 165 convictions (48%), compared with 28% across the Army.

These are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, not only the attempt.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

In 137 of the 181 cases, at least 1 other article was charged. The most common were Article 134, the general article, in 48 cases, Article 128 (assault) in 40, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 29, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 20, and Article 121 (larceny) in 18.

This affects the sentence figures. A long sentence in a case with an attempt charge may be for the other offenses as much as for the attempt. The records do not separate the two.

Discharges and Dismissals

A punitive discharge followed 90% of enlisted convictions: 73 bad-conduct discharges and 63 dishonorable discharges. The Army-wide share was 73%.

Officers cannot receive a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. 14 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these cases, and 10 were sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

General and Special Courts-Martial

Of the 181 cases, 157 were general courts-martial (87%), compared with 73% for the Army as a whole. 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.

At general courts-martial, 92% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.5 years. At the 24 special courts-martial, 83% did, and the median was 4 months.

Pleas, Contested Cases, and Acquittals

A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 180 cases with a plea recorded, 118 were guilty pleas and 62 were contested. The contested share of 34% is higher than the 30% across the Army.

Full acquittals were 26% of the 62 contested cases that reached a verdict, lower than the 38% Army-wide. Another 35 ended in a partial acquittal, where the accused was found 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.

Of the 118 guilty pleas, 106 are recorded with a plea agreement and 12 have no entry. The records show whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Who Decided Guilt?

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone decided 144 of the 177 cases with the forum listed (81%). Members decided 33: 24 by enlisted panels and 9 by officer panels.

In contested cases, members decided 31 of 58 (53%). Guilty pleas are usually decided by a judge alone, so the overall split mostly follows the number of contested cases.

Cases and Convictions by Year

The 181 cases were tried from January 2021 to November 2025. There were 46 in 2021, 31 in 2022, 38 in 2023, 34 in 2024, and 32 in 2025. They were 7% of the 2,422 Army courts-martial in those years.

In 2021–2022, Article 80 was part of 47 of 891 Army convictions with offenses listed (5%). In 2024–2025, it was part of 55 of 816 (7%), a larger share. The highest yearly number of convictions that included Article 80 was 30, in 2021. The share was 7% in both 2023 and 2025.

Installations and Rank

The five installations with the most cases were Wheeler Army Airfield (26), Fort Hood (22), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (17), Fort Bragg (13), and Fort Carson (10). Together they account for 49% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show anything about one base.

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 55% of the accused, the same share as across the Army. NCOs were 37% and officers were 8%.

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, domestic violence, and murder. 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 these records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under the old rules and the new rules.

The records include only cases that went to a court-martial. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, or cases where no action was taken. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms.

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.