Fewer or More? Orders Violation Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Army

Based on 319 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Orders Violations Over Time

Article 92 was charged in 15% of all Army convictions with offenses listed in 2021 and 17% in 2022. The share was 11% in 2023, 13% in 2024, and 8% in 2025. Shares keep years comparable even when the total number of cases changes.

The case counts also went down. There were 87 courts-martial charging Article 92 in 2021 and 89 in 2022, then 50 in 2023, 59 in 2024, and 34 in 2025. Convictions including the article were highest in 2022, at 73. Over the whole period these cases make up 13% of the 2,422 Army courts-martial.

Convictions per Year

The chart shows Army convictions that included Article 92: 69 in 2021, 73 in 2022, 44 in 2023, 54 in 2024, and 30 in 2025.

Usually Charged With Other Offenses

Of the 319 cases, 285 charged at least 1 other article. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 86 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 74, Article 112a (drugs) in 59, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 57, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 45.

This affects every sentence figure. A sentence covers every charge in the case. The confinement in an orders-violation case often includes punishment for other, more serious offenses.

Discharges Less Common Than Army-Wide

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for enlisted members, or a dismissal for officers. Of 273 convicted enlisted members, 151 received one (55%): 121 bad-conduct and 30 dishonorable. The Army-wide share was 73%. Of 20 convicted officers or warrant officers, 10 were dismissed.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Confinement After Conviction

293 cases ended in a conviction on at least 1 charge. 232 of those sentences included confinement (79%). The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months in the rest of the Army. A quarter of sentences were 1 year or longer, and 2 were life sentences.

131 convictions (45%) included under 6 months of confinement, compared with 39% Army-wide. 61 (21%) included no confinement, compared with 17%. 53 of 293 convictions (18%) included more than one year, compared with 28% across the Army. Of those, 38 (13%) were more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 20%. 15 (5%) were 5 years or more, compared with 8%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Contested Cases and Partial Acquittals

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least 1 charge. Of 318 records with a plea, 216 were guilty pleas and 102 were contested. The contested share was 32%, compared with 30% in the rest of the Army. Plea agreements are recorded for 194 of the 216 guilty pleas, and 22 have no entry. Army records do not give the terms.

Of 102 contested cases that reached a verdict, 26 ended in a full acquittal (25%). 62 ended in a partial acquittal (61%), meaning not guilty of at least 1 charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common.

Judges, Panels, and Court Levels

A military judge alone decided 266 of 317 cases with a forum listed (84%). Members heard 51: 47 enlisted panels and 4 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 48 of 100 (48%). Members acquitted the accused of all charges in 27% of contested cases. Military judges did so in 21%. The accused chooses the forum in most cases, so the 2 groups of cases are not alike.

General courts-martial heard 211 cases. Their median confinement was 6 months, and 37% were contested. Special courts-martial heard 103 cases. Their median confinement was 3 months, and 23% were contested. The court level is not listed for 5 cases. General courts-martial made up 67% of the 314 cases with a court level listed, compared with 73% in all Army cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Who Was Charged, and Where

NCOs (E-5 to E-9) were the largest group of accused, with 165. There were 132 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 22 officers or warrant officers. This group is more senior than the rest of the Army, where 55% were junior enlisted.

Fort Hood tried 31 of the cases, Fort Bragg 30, Fort Bliss and Fort Knox 22 each, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord 21. Together they had 39% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not point to a problem at a base.

Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on mix old-rule and new-rule cases. The data cannot show whether the lower share is connected to those changes. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. The evidence, the plea terms, and conduct handled outside a court-martial are not in the records.

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.