> ## 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. # What the Army Tried in August 2023 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-august-2023/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:11:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:06:47.000Z - Description: The Army tried 40 courts-martial in August 2023, with fewer general courts-martial and shorter sentences than the year overall. General courts-martial made up 60% of the cases with a court level listed, compared with 76% for the Army across 2023. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Army [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › August 2023 **Short answer:** The Army tried 40 courts-martial in August 2023, with fewer general courts-martial and shorter sentences than the year overall. General courts-martial made up 60% of the cases with a court level listed, compared with 76% for the Army across 2023\. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 18% of cases, compared with 8%. Based on 40 cases · August 2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## A Smaller Share of General Courts-Martial Of the 40 cases, 21 were general courts-martial and 14 were special courts-martial. The level is not listed for 5\. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. Sentences differed by court level. At general courts-martial, 82% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.1 years. At special courts-martial, 93% did, and the median was 3 months. ## Mostly Short Sentences Of 35 convictions, 29 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, and a quarter of sentences were 1.1 years or longer. The month also included 1 life sentence. Sentences under 6 months made up 51% of convictions, compared with 39% for the year. Sentences longer than one year made up 8 of 35 convictions (23%), compared with 28%. Only 3% were 5 years or more, compared with 8%. These are adjudged sentences. They cover all charges in a case and come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2023 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------- | | No confinement | 6 | 17% | 16% | | Under 6 months | 18 | 51% | 39% | | 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 9% | 16% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7 | 20% | 21% | | 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 8% | ## More Drug and Orders Charges Charge lists exist for 39 of the 40 cases, with each article counted once per case. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, and Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, each appeared in 18%. For the year, the shares were 8% and 11%. Article 128 (assault) was the most common, at 31%, compared with 26%. Article 134 (the general article) appeared in 26%, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 23%. Article 120, rape and sexual assault, appeared in 13%, compared with 21% for the year. Article 90 (willfully disobeying a superior officer) and Article 80 (attempts) were also among the top charges. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2023 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------- | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 12 | 31% | 26% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 10 | 26% | 24% | | [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence | 9 | 23% | 21% | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 18% | 8% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 18% | 11% | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 5 | 13% | 21% | | [Art. 90](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Willfully disobeying superior officer | 4 | 10% | 7% | | [Art. 80](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Attempts | 3 | 8% | 8% | ## Results by Charge Article 134 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 9 of 10 cases (90%), with a median confinement of 1.2 years. Article 134 also had the highest guilty plea rate: 80% (8 of 10). Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 7 of 12 cases (58%), with a median of 3 months. 58% of those cases (7 of 12) ended in a guilty plea. Article 128b cases ended in a conviction on that article in 6 of 9, with a median of 2 months. The rows overlap, since one case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges. | Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it | | --------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 7 (58%) | 3 months | | Art. 134 General article | 10 | 9 (90%) | 1.2 years | | Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 6 (6 of 9) | 2 months | ## Pleas, Verdicts, and Panels A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. There were 11 contested cases and 29 guilty pleas. The contested share was 28%, compared with 31% for the year. Of the guilty pleas, 28 are recorded with a plea agreement. The records do not show the terms. Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 45% ended in a full acquittal, compared with 39% for the year. 4 were partial acquittals: guilty of some charges and not others. A military judge alone decided 35 cases. Members heard 5, or 12%, compared with 19% for the year. Those included 4 of the 11 contested cases. ## Discharges Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 23 received a punitive discharge: 19 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. The Army share for the year was 74%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Compared With August 2022 August 2022 had 43 cases, compared with 40 in August 2023\. The general court-martial share went from 77% to 60%. The median confinement went from 5 months to 4 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 76% to 68%. The contested share was about the same: 30% and 28%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 7 of 13 to 5 of 11\. These months include few cases, so these are not measured trends. | | August 2022 | August 2023 | | ----------------------------------- | ----------- | ----------- | | Cases | 43 | 40 | | Contested (of pleas recorded) | 30% | 28% | | Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 13 | 5 of 11 | | Convictions with confinement | 86% | 83% | | Median confinement | 5 months | 4 months | | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 76% | 68% | | General courts-martial | 77% | 60% | ## Rank, Installations, and What the Records Do Not Show The accused were 24 junior enlisted members, 15 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more junior than the Army overall, where 56% were junior enlisted in 2023\. Joint Base Lewis-McChord tried 5 cases, Fort Hood 4, and Fort Campbell, Fort Jackson, and Fort Wainwright 3 each. Together they had 45% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are 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 Army courts-martial with a trial date in August 2023 (40 cases), compared with the whole year. 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) - [Army Courts-Martial, July 2023: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-july-2023/) (previous / next) - [Army Courts-Martial, September 2023: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-september-2023/) (previous / next) - [The Army Court-Martial Year, 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2023-year-in-review/) (the whole year) - [April 2023 at Army Courts-Martial: 49 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-april-2023/) - [April 2024 at Army Courts-Martial: 46 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-april-2024/) - [Army Courts-Martial, August 2025: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-august-2025/) - [Army Courts-Martial, December 2024: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-december-2024/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ← Previous: [Army Courts-Martial, July 2023: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-july-2023/)Next: [Army Courts-Martial, September 2023: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-september-2023/) → **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.