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# When Army Accused Plead Guilty to AWOL
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-plea-2021-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:33:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:04:49.000Z
- Description: The Army records hold 74 courts-martial from 2021–2025 in which the accused pleaded guilty to charges that included Article 86, absence without leave. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months across all Army guilty pleas.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 86, Army

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 86](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) › When Army Accused Plead Guilty to AWOL

**Short answer:** The Army records hold 74 courts-martial from 2021–2025 in which the accused pleaded guilty to charges that included Article 86, absence without leave. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 5 months across all Army guilty pleas. Of 70 convicted enlisted members, 56 received a punitive discharge; across Army guilty pleas, the share was 75%.

Based on 74 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Shorter Confinement, More Discharges

This post covers only Army guilty pleas where Article 86, absence without leave (AWOL), was among the charges. Confinement terms were shorter than for Army guilty pleas overall. Punitive discharges were more common.

Of 70 convicted enlisted members, 56 received a punitive discharge: 49 bad-conduct discharges and 7 dishonorable discharges. Across all Army guilty pleas, the share was 75%. The records show 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## How Much Confinement?

All 74 cases ended in a conviction, and 64 of those sentences included confinement (86%). The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 5 months for all Army guilty pleas. A quarter of sentences were 7 months or longer.

Sentences under 6 months made up 58% of these convictions, compared with 44% across Army guilty pleas. Sentences longer than one year were less common: 6 of 74 (8%), compared with 24%. The share with no confinement was 14%, the same as across Army guilty pleas. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army guilty pleas in those years |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 10          | 14%        | 14%                                         |
| Under 6 months                  | 43          | 58%        | 44%                                         |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 15          | 20%        | 18%                                         |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4           | 5%         | 17%                                         |
| 5 years or more                 | 2           | 3%         | 6%                                          |

## Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial

Of the 74 cases, 34 were general courts-martial (46%), compared with 68% across Army guilty pleas. The other 40 were special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial tried by a military judge alone is capped at six months with no punitive discharge.

The median confinement was 6 months at general courts-martial and 2 months at special courts-martial.

## Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 86 was the only charge in 14 of the 74 cases. Article 112a (drug offenses) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) each appeared in 18 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) and Article 134 (the general article) each appeared in 12, and Article 128 (assault) in 11.

The sentence in each case covers every charge. The confinement and discharge figures above therefore include these other offenses. The records do not say how long any absence lasted.

## Forum

A military judge alone decided guilt in 72 of 74 cases (97%). Members heard 2 cases, both with enlisted panels. The accused usually chooses between a judge alone and a panel, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Army records show whether a plea agreement existed, not what it said. Any cap an agreement placed on confinement does not appear in the adjudged sentences in this post.

## Rank of the Accused

By rank, 53 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 17 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 4 were officers or warrant officers. Across all Army guilty pleas, 60% were junior enlisted. This group was more junior.

## Cases by Year and Installation

The cases were tried from January 2021 to July 2025\. The count was highest in 2021, with 23 cases. There were 17 in 2022, 14 in 2023, 15 in 2024, and 5 in 2025\. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

Fort Riley had the most of these cases (9). Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 8, Fort Bragg 7, Fort Hood 7, and Fort Carson 6\. Those five installations had 50% of the 74 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with AWOL.

## The December 2023 Rules

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 in a case 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, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both sets of rules.

## What the Records Do Not Show

Absences handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not counted here. This post covers only cases that reached a courtroom and ended in a guilty plea. The records also do not show the evidence or the plea terms.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 86 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 86 (AWOL) (74 cases), compared with all Army guilty pleas in those years.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 86 (AWOL): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub)
- [Army Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-trend-2021-2025/)
- [What Sentence Follows an Army AWOL Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-sent-2021-2025/)
- [Not Guilty Pleas in Army Article 86 Cases: What Happened at Trial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-acq-2021-2025/)
- [Pleading Guilty to Article 86 in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-86-plea-2016-2025/) (another service)
- [Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases: How Often, and What Came Next](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-plea-2017-2025/) (another service)
- [Article 86 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.