Army Courts-Martial, June 2024: The Month in Review
The Army tried 39 courts-martial in June 2024. Most convictions carried short confinement: the median was 3 months, compared with 6 months for the Army across 2024. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) was charged in 23% of cases, compared with 12% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Army tried 39 courts-martial in June 2024. Most convictions carried short confinement: the median was 3 months, compared with 6 months for the Army across 2024. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) was charged in 23% of cases, compared with 12% for the year. Of convicted enlisted members, 65% received a punitive discharge, compared with 72%.
Most Terms Under 6 Months
Of 36 convictions, 31 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months. A quarter of terms were 6 months or longer.
Terms under 6 months made up 64% of convictions, compared with 43% for the Army in 2024. Only 2 convictions (6%) carried between 6 months and 1 year, compared with 15%. Sentences over one year were given in 6 of 36 convictions (17%), compared with 28%. Of those, 1 was 5 years or more.
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than a year of confinement. A special court-martial is limited to one year. All terms here are adjudged at trial for every charge, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 14% | 13% |
| Under 6 months | 23 | 64% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 2 | 6% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 14% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 7% |
Orders Violations and Domestic Violence
All 39 records list charges. An article counts once per case. Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common charge, in 12 cases (31%), compared with 23% for the year. Article 128 (assault) was next, in 11 cases (28%), compared with 23%.
Article 92 was charged in 9 cases (23%). Article 115 (communicating threats) was charged in 10% of cases, compared with 4%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) was also charged in 10%, compared with 6%. Article 134 (general article) was charged slightly less often than for the year: 18%, compared with 21%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 12 | 31% | 23% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 28% | 23% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 23% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 18% | 21% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 5 | 13% | 15% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 4 | 10% | 4% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 10% | 6% |
Results for the Most Common Charges
Article 92 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9 cases. The median confinement for those convictions was 4 months. Article 128b cases ended in a conviction in 10 of 12 (83%), with a median of 5 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction in 8 of 11 (73%), with a median of 2 months.
Of cases charging Article 128b, 67% ended in a guilty plea (8 of 12). Of cases charging Article 128, 64% did (7 of 11). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the case. The rows can overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 12 | 10 (83%) | 5 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 8 (73%) | 2 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 4 months |
Pleas, Agreements, and Contested Cases
The month had 30 guilty pleas and 9 contested cases. The contested share was 23%, compared with 27% for the year. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 30 guilty pleas, 29 have a plea agreement on record and 1 has no entry. The records show only that an agreement existed.
Of the contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 of 9 ended in a full acquittal.
Discharges
Of 34 convicted enlisted members, 22 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (65%). Of those 22, 4 were dishonorable discharges. Of 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed.
Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A member whose sentence has no punitive discharge or dismissal can still be separated administratively. These records do not cover administrative separation.
Court Level, Rank, and Forum
General courts-martial made up 31 of the 38 cases with a court level listed (82%), compared with 75% for the Army in 2024. The court level is not listed for 1 case. A special court-martial cannot impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge.
The accused were 20 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 17 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 officers or warrant officers. This mix was similar to the Army that year, where 53% were junior enlisted.
A military judge alone decided guilt in 35 of 39 cases (90%). Enlisted panels heard 4. The accused usually chooses the forum. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.
Changes From June 2023
June 2023 had 48 cases. The median confinement was 3 months in June 2024, compared with 1 year in June 2023. Punitive discharges for enlisted members were 65%, compared with 82%. The contested share was 23%, compared with 31%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 3 of 9, compared with 7 of 15.
December 28, 2023 falls between these 2 months. On that date, special trial counsel began deciding whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges now set sentences within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records do not give offense dates. They cannot show which cases were under the new rules, or whether the rules had any part in these changes. Monthly groups are also small, so a few cases can change the figures.
| June 2023 | June 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 48 | 39 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 31% | 23% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 15 | 3 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 85% | 86% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 3 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 82% | 65% |
| General courts-martial | 83% | 82% |
Installations and Gaps
Fort Hood tried 7 cases, Fort Bragg 4, Fort Campbell and Fort Riley 3 each, and Fort Bliss 2. Together these installations account for 49% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Trial records list charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not include the evidence, plea terms, or conduct resolved outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in June 2024 (39 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)
- Army Courts-Martial, May 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Army Courts-Martial, July 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- The Army Court-Martial Year, 2024 (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.