What Sentence Follows an Army Disrespect Conviction?

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Based on 28 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Disrespect Was Almost Never Charged Alone

Article 89 makes disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer an offense. In these Army courts-martial, it was the only charge in 1 of the 28 cases.

Article 86 (AWOL) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) each appeared in 12 cases. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 9, Article 134 (general article) in 8, and Article 91 (insubordination) in 7. Each sentence in this post covers all the charges in its case, not the disrespect charge alone.

Most Terms Were Short

Of the 28 convictions, 22 included confinement. The other 6 (21%) did not, compared with 17% across Army convictions. The median confinement was 4 months, and a quarter of terms were 6 months or longer.

Terms under 6 months made up 17 convictions (61%), compared with 39% across the Army. Only 3 convictions (11%) were 6 months to 1 year. Only 2 of 28 (7%) included more than one year, compared with 28% Army-wide. Of those 2, 1 was more than 1 year and under 5 years, and 1 was 5 years or more.

What an Adjudged Sentence Means

These figures are adjudged sentences: the punishment announced at trial. They come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, so the time actually served can differ. All 23 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records do not say what the agreements contained.

Fewer Punitive Discharges

Of 24 convicted enlisted members, 13 received a punitive discharge: 12 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. Across Army convictions, the punitive discharge share was 73%.

There were 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

General and Special Courts-Martial

The records list 14 general courts-martial and 12 special courts-martial. The level is not listed for 2. The general share was 54% of the cases with a court level listed, compared with 72% across Army convictions.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months with no punitive discharge.

The median confinement was 5 months at general courts-martial and 58 days at special courts-martial. The contested share was 14% at general courts-martial and 17% at special courts-martial.

Pleas and Forum

There were 23 guilty pleas and 5 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 18%, compared with 21% across Army convictions.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 25 of the 28 cases (89%). Members heard 3: 2 with enlisted panels and 1 with an officer panel. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas. There were too few panel cases to compare members and judges.

A More Senior Group

By rank, the accused were 13 junior enlisted members, 11 NCOs, and 4 officers. The group was more senior than Army convictions overall. Officers made up a larger part of this group than of most offense groups, and an officer's sentence can include dismissal instead of a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge.

Years and Installations

The cases were tried from January 2021 to September 2025. There were 7 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.

Fort Riley had 5 cases and Fort Bragg had 4. Fort Drum, Fort Hood, and Wheeler Army Airfield had 2 each. Those installations had 54% of the 28 cases. The counts are small, so 1 case can change the order. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Limits of the Data

With 28 cases, a few trials affect every percentage in this post. The records cover only courts-martial. Disrespect handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action is not included, and the records do not describe the evidence. They give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under the older rules and under the parameters for offenses after December 27, 2023. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

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.