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# Army Courts-Martial, December 2025: The Month in Review
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-december-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:52:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:07:15.000Z
- Description: Sentences in the Army's 36 courts-martial of December 2025 were longer than for the year. The median confinement was 1.1 years, compared with 8 months for the Army across 2025. 22% of convictions included 5 years or more. Most accused pleaded guilty, and only 17% of cases were contested.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Army

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › December 2025

**Short answer:** Sentences in the Army's 36 courts-martial of December 2025 were longer than for the year. The median confinement was 1.1 years, compared with 8 months for the Army across 2025\. 22% of convictions included 5 years or more. Most accused pleaded guilty, and only 17% of cases were contested.

Based on 36 cases · December 2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Longer Sentences Than for the Year

Confinement was part of 88% of the 32 convictions. The median confinement was 1.1 years, and a quarter of sentences were 5 years or longer. Across the Army in 2025, the median was 8 months.

7 convictions (22%) included 5 years or more, compared with 11% for the year. Another 7 (22%) were between 1 year and 5 years, compared with 18%. In all, 14 of 32 convictions (44%) included more than one year, compared with 30% Army-wide. Sentences under 6 months made up 25%, compared with 36% for 2025.

These are adjudged sentences: the total imposed at trial for every charge of conviction, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year of confinement, so every sentence longer than that came from a general court-martial.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2025 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 4           | 12%        | 19%                             |
| Under 6 months                  | 8           | 25%        | 36%                             |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 6           | 19%        | 15%                             |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7           | 22%        | 18%                             |
| 5 years or more                 | 7           | 22%        | 11%                             |

## Most Cases Were Guilty Pleas

Of 36 accused, 30 pleaded guilty and 6 contested at least one charge, meaning a plea of not guilty or a mixed plea. The contested share was 17%, compared with 20% for the Army over the full year. Each of the 30 guilty pleas was recorded with a plea agreement. The records do not show what any agreement said.

Of the 6 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal.

## What Was Charged

All 36 cases have charge lists, with each article counted once per case. Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common, in 31% of cases, compared with 26% for the year. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 28%, compared with 22%.

Article 128 (assault) appeared in 25%, compared with 19% across 2025\. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 17%, compared with 11%. Article 90 (willfully disobeying superior officer) was charged in 11%, compared with 6%.

| UCMJ Article                                                                                                                                  | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2025 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------- |
| [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence                        | 11    | 31%        | 26%                             |
| [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article                      | 10    | 28%        | 22%                             |
| [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault                              | 9     | 25%        | 19%                             |
| [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault                       | 6     | 17%        | 11%                             |
| [Art. 90](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Willfully disobeying superior officer  | 4     | 11%        | 6%                              |
| [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements            | 3     | 8%         | 6%                              |
| [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2     | 6%         | 8%                              |
| [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation    | 2     | 6%         | 8%                              |

## Which Charges Ended in Conviction

Every one of the 10 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 2 years. Article 128b cases ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 11 cases (91%), with a median of 8 months. Article 128 had the lowest rate among the top charges: 7 of 9, with a median of 1.7 years.

Guilty pleas also differed by charge. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 90% of the time (9 of 10). Cases charging Article 128b did so 82% of the time (9 of 11). The records give no reason for any plea. One case can include 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. 128b Domestic violence | 11                | 10 (91%)                | 8 months                                |
| Art. 134 General article    | 10                | 10 (100%)               | 2 years                                 |
| Art. 128 Assault            | 9                 | 7 (7 of 9)              | 1.7 years                               |

## Punitive Discharges and Dismissals

A punitive discharge, either bad-conduct or dishonorable, followed 74% of enlisted convictions, about the same as the 73% for the year. The count was 16 bad-conduct and 7 dishonorable. The month had 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which is not recorded here.

## Rank and Installations

The accused were 21 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 14 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. This group was more junior than the Army in 2025, where 50% were junior enlisted. General courts-martial made up 27 of the 36 cases (75%).

Fort Hood and Vilseck (Europe) tried 6 cases each, Camp Humphreys 4, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Fort Benning 3 each. Together they had 61% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

A military judge alone decided 31 cases, and enlisted panels heard 5\. Members heard 14% of cases, compared with 15% for the year. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

## Compared With December 2024

December 2024 had 26 cases, and December 2025 had 36\. The contested share went from 35% to 17%. The median confinement went from 5 months to 1.1 years. The general court-martial share went from 68% to 75%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 77% to 74%.

Monthly counts are small, and a few cases can change them.

|                                     | December 2024 | December 2025 |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------- |
| Cases                               | 26            | 36            |
| Contested (of pleas recorded)       | 35%           | 17%           |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 3 of 9        | 4 of 6        |
| Convictions with confinement        | 87%           | 88%           |
| Median confinement                  | 5 months      | 1.1 years     |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted)       | 77%           | 74%           |
| General courts-martial              | 68%           | 75%           |

## 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, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023\. Both depend on offense dates.

The records give trial dates only, so they cannot sort cases by which rules applied. They also 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 December 2025 (36 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)
- [November 2025 at Army Courts-Martial: 29 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-november-2025/) (previous / next)
- [Army Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-2025-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/)
- [Army Courts-Martial, February 2022: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-february-2022/)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

← Previous: [November 2025 at Army Courts-Martial: 29 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial-november-2025/)

**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.