What the Army Tried in January 2021
The Army tried 34 courts-martial in January 2021. Article 131b (obstructing justice) was charged in 15% of cases, compared with 5% for the Army across 2021. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › January 2021
Short answer: The Army tried 34 courts-martial in January 2021. Article 131b (obstructing justice) was charged in 15% of cases, compared with 5% for the Army across 2021. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months for the year. 66% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.
Obstruction and Sexual Assault Charges
Charges are listed for 33 of the 34 cases, and a case charging several articles is counted under each article. Article 131b appeared in 5 cases (15%). Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was the most common article, in 13 cases (39%), compared with 29% for the year.
Article 134 (general article) appeared in 30% of cases, compared with 21%. Article 128 (assault) was less common than for the year: 33% compared with 38%. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 9%, compared with 16%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 13 | 39% | 29% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 33% | 38% |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 30% | 21% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 5 | 15% | 5% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 4 | 12% | 12% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 9% | 8% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 3 | 9% | 12% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 9% | 16% |
Partial Acquittals in Contested Cases
A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (33%), about the same as the 35% for the Army in 2021.
7 contested cases (58%) ended in a partial acquittal, the most common result. In those, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Army results report findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are visible.
Article 120 Had the Lowest Conviction Rate
Of the 13 cases charging Article 120, 5 ended in a conviction on that article (38%). The median confinement for those convictions was 2.9 years. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 11 cases (91%), with a median of 8 months. Article 134 cases did so in 9 of 10 (90%), with a median of 2 months.
Guilty pleas also differed by charge. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 70% of the time (7 of 10), the highest among the top charges. Cases charging Article 120 did so 38% of the time (5 of 13). The records do not explain any plea decision, and a single case can appear in more than one row.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 13 | 5 (38%) | 2.9 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 10 (91%) | 8 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 10 | 9 (90%) | 2 months |
Contested Share Was the Same as the Year
Pleas are recorded for 33 of 34 cases: 21 guilty and 12 contested. The contested share was 36%, the same as for the Army across 2021.
Of the 21 guilty pleas, 17 are recorded with a plea agreement and 4 have no entry. The records show whether there was an agreement but not its terms.
Many Short Sentences, Some Long Ones
There were 30 convictions, and confinement was part of 83% of them. The median confinement was 4 months, and a quarter of sentences were 1.8 years or longer.
Sentences under 6 months made up 47% of convictions, compared with 37% for 2021. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up only 10%, compared with 17%. 8 of 30 convictions (27%) included more than one year, about the same as the 26% for the year. None was 5 years or more. A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than a year, so those 8 sentences came from general courts-martial. All are adjudged sentences for every charge, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 17% | 19% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 47% | 37% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 10% | 17% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 27% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 8% |
Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge, either bad-conduct or dishonorable, followed 66% of enlisted convictions: 13 bad-conduct and 6 dishonorable. The Army share across 2021 was 70%. The month had 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.
Who Decided Guilt, Rank, and Installations
A military judge alone decided guilt in 28 of 34 cases (82%). Members heard 6: 5 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. All 6 were contested cases. Members heard 6 of 12 contested cases (50%). The accused usually chooses the forum.
The accused were 17 junior enlisted members, 15 NCOs, and 2 officers. This group was more senior than the Army in 2021. General courts-martial made up 24 of the 33 cases with a court level listed (73%), the same as the 73% for the year. The court level is not listed for 1 case.
Kaiserslautern (Europe) tried 5 cases, Joint Base Lewis-McChord 4, Fort Hood 3, and Fort Sill and Fort Campbell 2 each. Together they had 47% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds.
Early Records and What They Do Not Show
The services had to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021, so there is no earlier January to compare.
The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. They do not include matters handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in January 2021 (34 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 February 2021 (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
- Army Courts-Martial, December 2025: 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.