The Army Court-Martial Year, 2024
In 2024 the Army records show 478 courts-martial. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 23% of cases, compared with 13% in the other services in 2024. 72% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 59% in the other services.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: In 2024 the Army records show 478 courts-martial. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 23% of cases, compared with 13% in the other services in 2024. 72% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 59% in the other services.
Fewer Soldiers Contested Their Charges
Only 27% of Army cases in 2024 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. There were 128 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 350 guilty pleas. In the other services in 2024, 38% of cases were contested. The Army figure was 31% in 2023.
Most guilty pleas had a plea agreement: 340 of 350 are recorded with one, and 10 have no entry. The records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 79% of the time (77 of 98). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 28% of the time (19 of 69).
Assault Charges Were the Most Common
Charges are listed for 474 of 478 cases, and a case is counted under every article it charges. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 23% of cases, compared with 13% in the other services in 2024. Article 128 (assault) also appeared in 23%, compared with 15%.
Article 112a (drug) appeared in only 8% of Army cases, compared with 17% in the other services. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 15%, and Article 120b (sexual assault of a child) in 9%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 111 | 23% | 13% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 108 | 23% | 15% |
| Art. 134 General article | 98 | 21% | 22% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 69 | 15% | 11% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 59 | 12% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 42 | 9% | 6% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 37 | 8% | 17% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 34 | 7% | 5% |
Members Acquitted More Often Than Judges
Of cases with the forum listed, 15% went to members: 55 enlisted panels and 15 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 399. In contested cases, members heard 70 of 119 (59%).
115 contested cases reached a verdict with the forum listed. Members acquitted the accused of all charges 41% of the time. Military judges did so 20% of the time. The accused usually chooses who decides guilt, so the cases in each group are not alike. The records cannot show how one case would have ended with the other choice.
Verdicts in Contested Cases
Of 124 contested cases that reached a verdict, 46 ended in a full acquittal (37%) and 55 in a partial acquittal (44%), where the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full acquittal rate was about the same as the 36% in the other services in 2024.
Army findings are listed charge by charge. At that level, Article 134 cases most often ended in a conviction on that article (91 of 98, or 93%), while Article 120 cases least often did (37 of 69, or 54%).
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 111 | 93 (84%) | 4 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 108 | 91 (84%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 98 | 91 (93%) | 1 year |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 69 | 37 (54%) | 2 years |
Confinement
Of 428 convictions, 372 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 5 months in the other services in 2024. These sentences are as adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in a case.
Sentences longer than one year were more common than in the other services: 121 of 428 convictions (28%), compared with 24%. 56 convictions (13%) included no confinement, compared with 22% in the other services in 2024. The median confinement was 2 years for Article 120 convictions and 4 months each for Article 128b and Article 128 convictions.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 56 | 13% | 22% |
| Under 6 months | 185 | 43% | 40% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 66 | 15% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 92 | 21% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 29 | 7% | 7% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. In 2024, 343 of the 478 Army cases were general courts-martial (72%), compared with 45% in the other services in 2024.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 10 months, and 33% of cases were contested. At the 112 special courts-martial, the median was 2 months, and 11% were contested. The court level is not listed for 23 cases.
Discharges, Rank, and Installations
Of 390 convicted enlisted members, 282 received a punitive discharge: 200 bad-conduct and 82 dishonorable. Among 37 convicted officers or warrant officers, 19 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Among the accused with rank recorded, 253 were junior enlisted, 181 were NCOs, and 43 were officers. This group is more senior than in the other services in 2024. Fort Hood (56), Fort Bliss (40), Fort Bragg (34), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (32), and Fort Carson (30) together tried 40% of the year's cases.
New Rules Took Effect
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both rules turn on the offense date, which these records do not give, so 2024 trials mix cases under old and new rules. The records cannot show whether either change affected the figures here.
Compared With 2023, and What the Records Do Not Show
The number of cases went from 469 to 478. The contested share went from 31% to 27%. Full acquittals were 58 of 147 in 2023 and 46 of 124 in 2024. The enlisted punitive discharge share went from 74% to 72%. The median confinement was 6 months in both years. A few cases can change numbers of this size.
The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation do not appear.
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 469 | 478 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 31% | 27% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 58 of 147 | 46 of 124 |
| Convictions with confinement | 84% | 87% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 74% | 72% |
| General courts-martial | 76% | 75% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every Army court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2024 (478 cases), compared with the other services in 2024 and with 2023.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- The Army Court-Martial Year, 2023 (previous / next)
- Army Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Army Courts-Martial
- The Army Court-Martial Year, 2022
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.