Army Article 90 Cases in 2022
The Army tried 28 courts-martial that charged Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 2022, compared with 42 in 2021. Of those, 25% were contested, compared with 36% across all Army cases in 2022. The median confinement was 7 months, slightly higher than the Army-wide 6 months.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 90 › Army, 2022
Short answer: The Army tried 28 courts-martial that charged Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 2022, compared with 42 in 2021. Of those, 25% were contested, compared with 36% across all Army cases in 2022. The median confinement was 7 months, slightly higher than the Army-wide 6 months.
A Junior Group of Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 82% of the accused in these cases. Across all Army cases in 2022, the junior enlisted share was 57%. NCOs were 11% of the accused and officers 7%.
General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, heard 20 of the 27 cases with a court level listed (74%). The court level is not listed for 1 case. Special courts-martial heard the rest. A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. The court level sets the maximum sentence.
Fewer Cases Than in 2021
The number of cases was 42 in 2021 and 28 in 2022. The contested share was 29% in 2021 and 25% in 2022. The median confinement was 9 months in 2021 and 7 months in 2022.
Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 66% in 2021 and 77% in 2022. The general court-martial share was 57% in 2021 and 74% in 2022. Full acquittals in decided contested cases were 1 of 12 in 2021 and 0 of 7 in 2022.
Groups this small can change with a few cases. These year-to-year differences show direction, not precise measures.
| 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 42 | 28 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 29% | 25% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 12 | 0 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 82% |
| Median confinement | 9 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 66% | 77% |
| General courts-martial | 57% | 74% |
Most Cases Were Guilty Pleas
Of the 28 cases, 21 ended in guilty pleas and 7 were contested. A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, through a not-guilty or mixed plea.
Plea agreements are recorded for 17 of the 21 guilty pleas, and 4 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed but not its terms, such as any cap on confinement.
More Sentences in the Middle Range
All 28 cases ended in a conviction, and confinement was part of 82% of them. Half of those terms were 7 months or less. The Army-wide median was 6 months.
Terms under 6 months made up 8 convictions (29%), compared with 41% across the Army. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 7 convictions (25%), compared with 16%. Terms of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 8 (29%), compared with 20%.
No conviction included 5 years or more, compared with 7% of all Army convictions. In total, 8 of 28 convictions (29%) included more than one year, about the same as the 27% Army-wide. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army cases in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 18% | 16% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 29% | 41% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 25% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 29% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 7% |
Disobedience Was Always Charged With Other Offenses
None of the 28 cases charged Article 90 alone. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 11 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 10, Article 112a (drug) in 8, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 7, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 6.
A sentence covers every charge in the case. The confinement figures above describe all of the convictions in each case, not the disobedience charge alone.
Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges
A punitive discharge was adjudged in 77% of the enlisted convictions: 14 bad-conduct and 6 dishonorable. Across all Army cases in 2022, the share was 76%.
Of 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation outside the court-martial.
Judge or Members?
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. In these cases, 22 were decided by a judge alone, 4 by enlisted panels, and 2 by officer panels. Members heard 21% of the cases with a forum listed.
Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so this split mostly follows how many cases were contested. There were 7 contested cases, and none ended in a full acquittal. That is too few to compare verdicts by judges and by members for this year.
Installations
Fort Bliss and Fort Bragg tried 4 of these cases each. Fort Stewart and Fort Hood tried 3 each, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord tried 2. Those five installations had 57% of the 28 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense. Other installations tried the remaining cases in smaller numbers.
What the Records Do Not Show
These records cover only cases that reached a court-martial. Disobedience handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action is not included. The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or when the conduct took place.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 90 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in 2022 that charged Article 90 (28 cases), compared with all Army cases that year and with 2021.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 90 (Willfully Disobeying Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Disobeying An Officer at Army Courts-Martial, 2021: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Disobeying An Officer at Army Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Is Army Disobeying An Officer Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 90, 2021–2025 (the full trend)
- Army Article 90 Cases in 2025
- How Army Disobeying An Officer Cases Ended in 2024
- Article 90 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025
- Article 90 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.