Pleading Guilty to Article 92 in the Army: What Sentences Followed?

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Based on 216 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Common Charge With Shorter Sentences

Orders violations and dereliction of duty fall under Article 92. The charge appeared in 216 Army guilty pleas in five years. Compared with all Army guilty pleas, these cases had lower rates of punitive discharge and long confinement.

The largest difference is in discharges. A punitive discharge followed 59% of enlisted convictions here, made up of 107 bad-conduct discharges and 12 dishonorable discharges, compared with 75% across Army guilty pleas. Among 13 convicted officers or warrant officers, 8 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Confinement Below the Army Median

Of 216 convictions, 180 included confinement (83%). The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 5-month median for all Army guilty pleas. A quarter of sentences were 10 months or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.

Those are adjudged sentences, the sentences announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

Fewer Sentences Longer Than a Year

Only 27 of 216 convictions (12%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 24% across Army guilty pleas. Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 11%, compared with 17%. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 1%, compared with 6%.

Shorter sentences were more common. Sentences under 6 months made up 52% of convictions, compared with 44%. 36 convictions (17%) included no confinement, compared with 14%. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were about the same: 19% compared with 18%.

Other Charges in These Cases

Article 92 was the only charge in 27 of the 216 cases. Drug offenses under Article 112a were the most common other charge, in 52 cases, followed by Article 128 (assault) in 48, Article 134 (the general article) in 45, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 33, and Article 115 (communicating threats) in 19.

The sentence in each case covers every charge. These figures therefore describe all the charges together, not the orders violation alone. A case with an orders violation and an assault charge receives one sentence for both.

Results by Court Level

General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, heard 132 of the 211 cases with a court level listed (63%). Special courts-martial heard 79, and the level is not listed for 5.

The median confinement was 6 months at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The records do not show how the level was chosen in any case.

A More Senior Mix of Accused

The accused included 107 junior enlisted members, 96 NCOs, and 13 officers. The group is more senior than all Army guilty pleas in those years.

Members heard 1% of cases with the forum listed: 2 enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided the other 214. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so this split follows from the plea. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge or members decide the case.

Cases by Year and Installation

The cases were tried from January 2021 through December 2025. The highest count was 60 in 2022. There were 48 in 2021, 35 in 2023, 46 in 2024, and 27 in 2025.

Fort Bliss and Fort Bragg had 19 cases each, Fort Hood 18, Fort Knox 16, and Fort Riley 15. Those five installations had 40% of the 216. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts are not a measure of discipline at any base.

Rules That Changed in the Period

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder are prosecuted. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.

Domestic violence, charged in 33 of these cases, is among the covered offenses. The records give only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on mix cases decided under each set of rules, and the data cannot show whether the changes affected outcomes. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.

What the Records Do Not Show

Orders violations handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not in these records. The trial records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They do show whether there was a plea agreement: 194 of the 216 guilty pleas are recorded with one, and 22 have no entry. Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said.

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.