Article 92 With Article 93 in the Army: What the Records Show

Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Army, with Article 93

Based on 26 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Full Acquittals in 10 of 20 Contested Cases

All 20 contested cases reached a verdict. In 10 of them (50%), the accused was acquitted of all charges. The full-acquittal rate for all Army Article 92 cases from 2021–2025 was 25%.

Another 9 contested cases (45%) ended in a partial acquittal. In those cases, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings for each charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army records.

Most Accused Contested the Charges

A contested case is one where the accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. Here 20 of the 26 accused contested at least one charge, and 6 pleaded guilty. The contested share, 77%, compares with 30% for all Army Article 92 cases.

In the 6 guilty-plea cases, the accused pleaded guilty to every charge. The records do not say why any accused chose to plead guilty or to go to trial.

NCOs and Officers Only

No junior enlisted members appear in these cases. By rank, the accused were 21 NCOs and 5 officers. The group is more senior than the accused in Army Article 92 cases overall.

General courts-martial heard 17 of the 24 cases with a court level listed (71%), compared with 64% in all Army Article 92 cases. The court level is not listed for 2 cases. A general court-martial can adjudge any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.

Panels Heard 48% of the Cases

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 13 cases. Enlisted panels decided 9 and officer panels decided 3. Members heard 48% of the cases, compared with 15% in all Army Article 92 cases.

Among the contested cases with the forum listed, members heard 12 of 19 (63%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the forum split mostly follows the high number of contested cases.

Sentences for the 16 Convictions

Of the 26 cases, 16 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Only 5 of those 16 sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, longer than the 4 months for all Army Article 92 cases in 2021–2025.

These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal can lower a sentence later. Each sentence covers all the charges in the case.

Punitive Discharges and Dismissals

Of 12 convicted enlisted members, 4 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (33%). In all Army Article 92 cases, the share was 54%. Of the 4, 2 were dishonorable discharges.

The records include 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 2 of them were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Other Charges, Years, and Places

No case charged Article 92 alone. Besides Article 93, the most frequent other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 12 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 10, Article 134 (general article) in 8, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 4.

The cases were tried from March 2021 through October 2025: 12 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 2 in 2025.

Fort Knox tried 4 cases and Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston tried 3. Vicenza (Europe), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Fort Campbell tried 2 each. These five installations account for 50% of the 26 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every type.

What the Records Do Not Show

Rule changes from this period turn on the date of the offense. For covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder, special trial counsel have made the decision to prosecute since December 28, 2023. In a case where every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters.

Because the records give trial dates and not offense dates, they cannot show which rules applied to any case. 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.

The records also do not include the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 92 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.