December 2021 at Army Courts-Martial: 27 Cases
Few contested cases in the Army's 27 courts-martial of December 2021 ended in a full acquittal: 2 of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict (18%), compared with 35% for the Army across 2021. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 19% of cases, compared with 12% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › December 2021
Short answer: Few contested cases in the Army's 27 courts-martial of December 2021 ended in a full acquittal: 2 of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict (18%), compared with 35% for the Army across 2021. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 19% of cases, compared with 12% for the year. 79% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 70%.
Partial Acquittals Were More Common Than Full Acquittals
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal. The other 8 ended in a partial acquittal: guilty of some charges and not guilty of others. Army results list findings charge by charge, so these partial acquittals are common in Army data.
Members heard 9 of the 11 contested cases (82%). Across all 27 cases, a military judge alone decided 18 (67%). Members heard 9: 8 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. The accused usually chooses whether a judge or members decide guilt.
Pleas and Agreements
There were 16 guilty pleas and 11 contested cases. The contested share was 41%, compared with 36% for the Army that year. A mixed plea, guilty to some charges and not guilty to others, counts as contested.
Only 9 of the 16 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. The other 7 have no entry. Army records state whether an agreement existed, not its terms. The records do not show whether the 7 pleas with no entry had an agreement.
Which Articles Were Charged
All 27 cases list their charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault) was the most common, at 37%, about the same as the 38% for the year. Article 120, rape and sexual assault, appeared in 33%, compared with 29%.
Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, and Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, each appeared in 19%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 15%, compared with 8% for the year. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 11%, compared with 6%. Article 134 was less common than for the year: 15% compared with 21%. Article 93 (cruelty and maltreatment) appeared in 2 cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 37% | 38% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 33% | 29% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 19% | 12% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 19% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 15% | 8% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 15% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 11% | 6% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 2 | 7% | 3% |
Results for Assault and Sexual Assault
Among the top charges, Article 120 cases most often ended in a conviction on that article: 6 of 9 cases. The median confinement for those convictions was 2.3 years. Article 128 cases least often did: 4 of 10 (40%), with a median of 4 months.
A case can end with a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 4 (40%) | 4 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 9 | 6 (6 of 9) | 2.3 years |
Sentences in December 2021
Of 25 convictions, 22 included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the Army median for 2021. A quarter of sentences were 2 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year made up 8 of 25 convictions (32%), compared with 26% for the year. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 16%, compared with 8%. Convictions with no confinement were less common than for the year: 12% compared with 19%.
General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 20 of the 27 cases (74%), about the same as the 73% for the year. All figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 12% | 19% |
| Under 6 months | 11 | 44% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 12% | 17% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 16% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 16% | 8% |
Punitive Discharges
Among 24 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (79%). That is higher than the 70% across the Army that year. 9 of those were dishonorable. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation, which these records do not include.
Compared With December 2020
December 2020 had 22 cases, compared with 27 in December 2021. The contested share went from 32% to 41%. The general court-martial share went from 82% to 74%.
Army records are sparse before 2021. The December 2020 sentencing figures are based on a single recorded conviction, so they are not a useful comparison. The services had to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020.
| December 2020 | December 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 22 | 27 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 32% | 41% |
| Convictions with confinement | 1 of 1 | 88% |
| Median confinement | 2.3 years | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 1 of 1 | 79% |
| General courts-martial | 82% | 74% |
Rank, Installations, and What the Records Do Not Show
The accused were 14 junior enlisted members, 12 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more senior than the Army overall in 2021. Fort Bragg tried 5 cases, Joint Base Lewis-McChord 4, Fort Benning 3, and Fort Wainwright and Fort Hood 2 each. Those five installations had 59% 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.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in December 2021 (27 cases), compared with the whole year.
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)
- What the Army Tried in November 2021 (previous / next)
- January 2022 at Army Courts-Martial: 35 Cases (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Army Courts-Martial (the whole year)
- April 2023 at Army Courts-Martial: 49 Cases
- April 2024 at Army Courts-Martial: 46 Cases
- Army Courts-Martial, August 2025: The Month in Review
- Army Courts-Martial, December 2024: The Month 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.