> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Army Maltreatment Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-93-ncos/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:19:08.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:13:51.000Z - Description: When Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) contested a maltreatment charge under Article 93, 52% of the cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (15 of 29), compared with 47% across all Army Article 93 cases. Of the 45 courts-martial from 2021–2025, 30 ended in a conviction. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 93, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 93](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-93-courts-martial/) › NCOs (E-5 to E-9) **Short answer:** When Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) contested a maltreatment charge under Article 93, 52% of the cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (15 of 29), compared with 47% across all Army Article 93 cases. Of the 45 courts-martial from 2021–2025, 30 ended in a conviction. 47% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 50%. Based on 45 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Most NCOs Contested the Charge Most maltreatment cases against NCOs were contested. Of 45 accused, 29 pleaded not guilty to at least one charge and 16 pleaded guilty. The contested share was 64%, about the same as the 63% across all Army Article 93 cases. Of the 29 contested cases that reached a verdict, 15 ended in a full acquittal (52%). Another 13 were partial acquittals, in which the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army data. ## Panels and Judges Reached Different Results In contested cases, members acquitted the accused of all charges 65% of the time. Military judges did so 27% of the time. These 28 cases are the decided contested cases with the forum listed. The accused chooses the forum in most cases, so the cases each one heard are not alike, and the records cannot show why the rates differ. Overall, a military judge alone decided 27 cases, an enlisted panel 16, and an officer panel 1\. Members heard 39% of cases, compared with 36% across all Army Article 93 cases. They heard 17 of 28 contested cases (61%). ## Confinement After a Conviction Of the 30 convictions, 18 included confinement (60%). The median confinement was 5 months, about the same as the 5 months across all Army Article 93 cases. A quarter of those sentences were 1.3 years or longer. 40% of convictions included no confinement, compared with 45% across all Army Article 93 cases. 6 of 30 convictions (20%) included more than one year of confinement, the same 20% as across Army Article 93 cases. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army Article 93 cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------- | | No confinement | 12 | 40% | 45% | | Under 6 months | 10 | 33% | 30% | | 6 months to 1 year | 2 | 7% | 5% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 10% | 12% | | 5 years or more | 3 | 10% | 8% | ## Discharges for Convicted NCOs Among 30 convicted enlisted members, 14 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (47%), compared with 50% across all Army Article 93 cases. 5 of those were dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## General and Special Courts-Martial General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 61% of the 44 cases with a court level listed (27 of 44). Special courts-martial, capped at one year of confinement and unable to adjudge a dishonorable discharge, heard 17\. The court level is not listed for 1 case. The median confinement was 10 months at general courts-martial, where 74% of cases were contested. It was 2 months at special courts-martial, where 53% were contested. ## Other Charges in These Cases Only 5 of the 45 cases charged Article 93 by itself, compared with 5 of 57 across all Army Article 93 cases. Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 21 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 19, Article 134 (general article) in 11, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 6. Each sentence covers all charges in the case. The sexual assault and assault charges in many of these cases are part of the sentence figures. ## An All-NCO Group All 45 accused were NCOs. This group is more senior than the Army's Article 93 cases as a whole. Plea agreements are recorded for 15 of the 16 guilty pleas, and 1 has no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed but not its terms. ## Years and Installations The cases were tried between March 2021 and December 2025, with 14 in 2021, 15 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 5 in 2025\. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021. Joint Base Lewis-McChord had 5 cases, Fort Campbell and Fort Drum 4 each, and Fort Hood and Vilseck (Europe) 3 each. Together they account for 42% of the 45\. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a count alone does not mean a base has a problem. ## 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 and domestic violence. 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. Maltreatment handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation does not appear, and the records do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025 that charged NCOs (E-5 to E-9) under Article 93 (45 cases), compared with every Army Article 93 case. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 93 (Cruelty and Maltreatment): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-93-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Fewer or More? Maltreatment Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-93-trend-2021-2025/) - [How Has Article 93 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-93-trend-2017-2025/) - [Army Article 93a Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-93a-ncos/) - [Army Child Endangerment Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-119b-junior-enlisted/) - [Army Child Sexual Abuse Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-junior-enlisted/) - [Army Communicating Threats Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-junior-enlisted/) - [Army Conduct Unbecoming Cases Against Officers: Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-133-officers/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.