> ## 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. # How 2021 Went at Army Courts-Martial - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2021-year-in-review/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:10:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:06:40.000Z - Description: The Army records hold 536 courts-martial for 2021. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 29% of them, compared with 16% in the other services in 2021. 70% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% in the other services. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › 2021 **Short answer:** The Army records hold 536 courts-martial for 2021\. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 29% of them, compared with 16% in the other services in 2021\. 70% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% in the other services. Based on 536 cases · 2021 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## The First Full Year of Army Records The services had to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021\. The 2020 figures include only 83 cases, and several 2020 percentages are based on a single case. 2021 is the first Army year with enough records to describe. The increase from 83 cases to 536 reflects a change in what was published. It does not measure how many courts-martial the Army held. The contested share was 39% in 2020 and 36% in 2021\. The 2020 figure is based on few cases. | | 2020 | 2021 | | ----------------------------------- | -------- | --------- | | Cases | 83 | 536 | | Contested (of pleas recorded) | 39% | 36% | | Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 1 | 67 of 190 | | Convictions with confinement | 5 of 5 | 81% | | Median confinement | 7 months | 6 months | | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 3 of 3 | 70% | | General courts-martial | 81% | 73% | ## Sexual Assault and Assault Were the Most Common Charges 533 of 536 records list the charges. Each article is counted once per case. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 38% of cases, compared with 30% in the other services in 2021\. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 29%, compared with 16%. Drug cases were less common. Article 112a (drug) was charged in 12% of Army cases, compared with 29% in the other services. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 12% of cases, compared with 8%. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2021 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | --------------------------------- | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 204 | 38% | 30% | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 156 | 29% | 16% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 113 | 21% | 24% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 87 | 16% | 20% | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 63 | 12% | 29% | | [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements | 63 | 12% | 8% | | [Art. 80](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Attempts | 46 | 9% | 9% | | [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 43 | 8% | 7% | ## Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements A plea is recorded for 535 of 536 cases. There were 192 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 343 guilty pleas. The contested share was 36%, compared with 40% in the other services in 2021\. Of the 343 guilty pleas, 306 are recorded with a plea agreement and 37 have no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it contained. Guilty pleas differed by charge. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 65% of the time (74 of 113), the highest rate among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 26% of the time (41 of 156). ## Partial Acquittals Were Common 35% of the 190 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. The rate in the other services in 2021 was about the same, 37%. Another 75 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are visible in Army records. Charge-level results also show how often a case ended in a conviction on the specific article charged: 69 of 87 cases for Article 92 (79%), and 79 of 156 for Article 120 (51%), the lowest among the top charges. | Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it | | ------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Art. 128 Assault | 204 | 156 (76%) | 6 months | | Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 156 | 79 (51%) | 2.3 years | | Art. 134 General article | 113 | 86 (76%) | 1 year | | Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 87 | 69 (79%) | 6 months | ## Members Acquitted More Often Than Judges A military judge alone decided guilt in 418 of 534 cases with the forum listed (78%). Members heard 116 cases, 101 by enlisted panels and 15 by officer panels. In contested cases, members heard 114 of 190 (60%). 188 contested cases reached a verdict with the forum listed. Members acquitted the accused of all charges in 49 of 112 (44%). A military judge alone did so in 16 of 76 (21%). The accused usually chooses the forum, so the cases in each group are not alike. The difference does not show how the same case would be decided by each. ## Confinement Confinement was part of 81% of the 467 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as in the other services in 2021\. 2 sentences were life sentences. All figures are adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Sentences longer than one year were about as common as in the other services: 121 of 467 convictions (26%), compared with 25%. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 8%, compared with 5%. 90 convictions (19%) included no confinement. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2021 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------------------- | | No confinement | 90 | 19% | 15% | | Under 6 months | 175 | 37% | 38% | | 6 months to 1 year | 81 | 17% | 22% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 83 | 18% | 20% | | 5 years or more | 38 | 8% | 5% | ## General and Special Courts-Martial General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 73% of the 534 Army cases in 2021 with a court level listed (392 of 534). Special courts-martial, capped at one year of confinement, made up the rest. The court level is not listed for 2 cases. At general courts-martial, 86% of convictions included confinement, and the median confinement was 10 months. At the 142 special courts-martial, 68% did, and the median was 3 months. ## Discharges, Rank, and Installations Of 435 enlisted members convicted, 304 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (70%), and 102 of those were dishonorable. Of 32 convicted officers or warrant officers, 19 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still lead to administrative separation. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 58% of the accused, NCOs 36%, and officers 6%. The junior enlisted share in the other services in 2021 was 68%. Joint Base Lewis-McChord (52), Fort Bragg (45), Fort Hood (45), Fort Campbell (41), and Fort Drum (34) tried 40% of the year's cases. The largest installations try the most cases of every type. ## What the Records Do Not Show These records cover charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the terms of plea agreements. Conduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation is not included. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Every Army court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2021 (536 cases), compared with the other services in 2021 and with 2020. 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 - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [The Army Court-Martial Year, 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2022-year-in-review/) (previous / next) - [Army Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2025-year-in-review/) - [The Army Court-Martial Year, 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2023-year-in-review/) - [The Army Court-Martial Year, 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2024-year-in-review/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2017-year-in-review/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial in 2018: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2018-year-in-review/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) Next: [The Army Court-Martial Year, 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2022-year-in-review/) → **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.