What Sentence Follows an Army Desertion Conviction?

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Based on 44 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Short Confinement and Frequent Discharges

Of the 44 convictions, 39 included confinement (89%). The median confinement was 3 months, and a quarter of terms were 6 months or longer.

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. One was adjudged in 91% of the enlisted convictions: 34 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. Across Army convictions in the same years, the share was 73%. Everyone convicted here was enlisted.

Sentence Lengths

Terms under 6 months made up 27 convictions (61%), compared with 39% across Army convictions. Another 6 convictions (14%) had terms of 6 months to 1 year, and 5 (11%) had no confinement.

Only 6 of the 44 convictions (14%) included more than one year, compared with 28% Army-wide. Of those, 2 were more than 1 year and under 5 years (5%, compared with 20%), and 4 were 5 years or more (9%, compared with 8%). The records include 1 life sentence.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Special Courts-Martial Heard Most Cases

Special courts-martial heard 26 cases and general courts-martial 17. The level is not listed for 1 case. General courts-martial made up 40% of the 43 cases with a court level listed. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

The 17 general courts-martial had a median confinement of 6 months, and 18% were contested. The 26 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 57 days, and none were contested. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months of confinement with no punitive discharge. This post does not separate those cases from the others.

Almost No Contested Trials

Of the 44 accused, 41 pleaded guilty and 3 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 7%, lower than the 21% across Army convictions.

Of the 41 guilty pleas, 39 are recorded with a plea agreement and 2 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed, not what it said. The sentences here are the ones adjudged at trial, so they do not reflect any limit an agreement placed on confinement.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 43 cases. Members heard 1 case, with an enlisted panel. That is 2% of cases, compared with 12% across Army convictions. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone trials are guilty pleas.

Desertion Was Often the Only Charge

Article 85 was the only charge in 22 of the 44 cases. When other articles were charged, Article 86 (AWOL) was the most common, in 10 cases. Article 90 (disobeying an officer) and Article 112a (drug) appeared in 5 cases each, Article 128 (assault) in 4, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 3.

Rank of the Accused

By rank, the accused were 38 junior enlisted members and 6 NCOs. No officers or warrant officers were in this group. The group was more junior than Army convictions overall.

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is part of the sentence the court-martial adjudges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Years and Installations

The cases were tried between February 2021 and April 2025. There were 8 in 2021, 11 in 2022, 12 in 2023, 10 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Fort Bliss had the most cases, with 8. Fort Campbell had 7, Fort Hood 6, Fort Bragg 5, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord 4. Those five installations had 68% of the 44 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with desertion.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records include only absences that reached a court-martial. Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records also do not show the evidence or the plea terms. They give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which trials from 2024 on were sentenced under the parameters for offenses after December 27, 2023.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.