What the Army Tried in November 2024
The Army tried 38 courts-martial in November 2024. Only 18% were contested, compared with 27% for the Army across 2024. All 31 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Article 112a (drug offenses) was charged in 16% of cases, compared with 8% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › November 2024
Short answer: The Army tried 38 courts-martial in November 2024. Only 18% were contested, compared with 27% for the Army across 2024. All 31 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Article 112a (drug offenses) was charged in 16% of cases, compared with 8% for the year.
Most Cases Ended in Guilty Pleas
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. In November 2024, only 7 of 38 cases were contested, and 31 ended in guilty pleas. The contested share was 18%, lower than the 27% for the Army that year.
All 31 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records show whether an agreement existed but not what it said. Any agreed limits on a sentence are not shown.
Of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal.
More Drug Cases Than for the Year
All 38 records list charges. A case is counted once under each article charged, so the rows overlap. Article 112a (drug use or possession) was charged in 6 cases (16%), compared with 8% across the Army in 2024.
Article 134 (general article) and Article 128b (domestic violence) were the most common charges, with 9 cases each (24%). Both were close to their yearly shares of 21% and 23%. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 5 cases (13%), lower than the 23% for the year. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 4 cases (11%), compared with 15%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 24% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 24% | 23% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 16% | 8% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 5 | 13% | 23% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 11% | 9% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 11% | 15% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 8% | 12% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 5% | 4% |
Convictions on the Most Common Charges
All 9 cases charging Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article. The median confinement for those convictions was 2 months. Article 134 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 8 of 9, with a median of 11 months. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 8 (8 of 9) | 11 months |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 2 months |
Sentences in the Middle Range
Of 35 convictions on at least one charge, 29 included confinement (83%). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the median for the Army in 2024. A quarter of terms were 1 year or longer.
Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 26% of convictions, compared with 15% for the year. Fewer sentences were longer than a year: 6 of 35 (17%), compared with 28%. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years made up 9%, compared with 21%.
These figures are adjudged sentences that cover every charge in a case. Plea-agreement caps, clemency, and appeals can reduce them later.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 17% | 13% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 40% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 26% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 9% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 9% | 7% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
A general court-martial can adjudge any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. November 2024 had 28 general courts-martial (74%, compared with 75% for the year). Their median confinement was 6 months, and 25% were contested.
The 10 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 2 months. None of them was contested.
Punitive Discharges
Of enlisted convictions, 74% included a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, about the same as the 72% for the year. There were 18 bad-conduct discharges and 7 dishonorable discharges. The month had 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out administrative separation later.
Rank, Forum, and Installation
The accused were 22 junior enlisted members, 15 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more junior than the Army for the year.
A military judge alone decided 34 cases. Of cases with a forum listed, members heard 11%: 3 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. Guilty pleas are almost always heard by a judge alone, so a month with few contested cases has few panels.
Fort Bliss and Fort Campbell tried 5 cases each, Kaiserslautern (Europe) and Fort Hood 4 each, and Fort Benning 2. Together these installations account for 53% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every type.
Compared With November 2023
November 2023 had 31 cases. November 2024 had 38. The contested share was 18%, compared with 29% in November 2023. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 3 of 7, compared with 3 of 9. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 9 months. Convictions that included confinement were 83%, compared with 93%. Enlisted punitive discharges were 74%, compared with 88%. The general court-martial share was 74%, compared with 97%. Monthly groups are small, and a few cases can change them.
| November 2023 | November 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 31 | 38 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 29% | 18% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 3 of 9 | 3 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 93% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 9 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 88% | 74% |
| General courts-martial | 97% | 74% |
New Prosecution Rules and Missing Details
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges also sentence under new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give only trial dates. Cases from 2024 can fall under either set of rules, and the data cannot show whether the changes affected these numbers. Evidence, plea terms, and nonjudicial punishment are also not in the records.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in November 2024 (38 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, October 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Army Courts-Martial, December 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
- 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.