Army Courts-Martial, October 2024: The Month in Review
The Army tried 43 courts-martial in October 2024. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 33% of them, compared with 23% for the Army across 2024. Only 16% of the cases were contested, compared with 27% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › October 2024
Short answer: The Army tried 43 courts-martial in October 2024. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 33% of them, compared with 23% for the Army across 2024. Only 16% of the cases were contested, compared with 27% for the year. Of convicted enlisted members, 78% received a punitive discharge, compared with 72%.
Assault and the General Article Were the Most Common Charges
Of the 43 records, 42 list charges. Each article is counted once per case, so a case charging several articles appears in several rows. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 14 cases. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 11 (26%, compared with 21% for the year).
Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged less often than for the year: 12% of cases, compared with 23%. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 10%, compared with 3%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) was charged in 10%, compared with 6%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 14%, about the same as the 15% for 2024.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 14 | 33% | 23% |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 26% | 21% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 14% | 15% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 5 | 12% | 23% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 10% | 6% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 4 | 10% | 3% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 10% | 12% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 10% | 9% |
Guilty Pleas on the Most Common Charges
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Only 7 of 43 cases were contested this month, and 36 ended in guilty pleas. Plea agreements are recorded for 35 of the 36, and 1 has no entry. The records do not show the terms of any agreement.
Most cases with the most common charges ended in a guilty plea. Of assault cases, 86% did (12 of 14). Of Article 134 cases, 82% did (9 of 11). The records do not explain an accused's choice.
Of the 6 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
Convictions for Assault and the General Article
Assault cases ended in a conviction on Article 128 in 13 of 14 (93%). The median confinement for those convictions was 3 months. All 11 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article (100%), with a median of 7 months. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 14 | 13 (93%) | 3 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 11 (100%) | 7 months |
A Wide Range of Sentences
Of 40 convictions, 85% included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the median for the Army in 2024. A quarter of terms were 1.8 years or longer.
More than one year was given in 13 of 40 convictions (32%), compared with 28% for the year. Terms of 5 years or more made up 12%, compared with 7%. Terms under 6 months made up 32%, compared with 43%.
General courts-martial made up 79% of the 42 cases with a court level listed (33 of 42). A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial, which are limited to one year, made up the rest. All figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 15% | 13% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 32% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 20% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 20% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 12% | 7% |
Discharges and Dismissals
Of 37 convicted enlisted members, 29 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (78%). Of those 29, 7 were dishonorable discharges. All 3 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank, Forum, and Installation
Junior enlisted members made up 58% of the accused, NCOs 35%, and officers 7%. The Army's junior enlisted share for 2024 was 53%.
A military judge alone decided 37 cases. Enlisted panels decided 4 and an officer panel decided 1. Members heard 12% of the cases, compared with 15% for the year. Guilty pleas are almost always heard by a judge alone.
Fort Hood tried 7 cases, Fort Bliss 6, and Kaiserslautern (Europe), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Fort Campbell 4 each. Together these installations account for 58% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Compared With October 2023
October 2023 had 35 cases. October 2024 had 43. The contested share was about the same: 16%, compared with 17% in October 2023. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 2 of 6 in both months. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 3 months. Convictions that included confinement were 85%, compared with 94%. Enlisted punitive discharges were 78%, compared with 62%. The general court-martial share was 79% in both months. Monthly groups are small, and a few cases can change these figures.
| October 2023 | October 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 35 | 43 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 17% | 16% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 6 | 2 of 6 |
| Convictions with confinement | 94% | 85% |
| Median confinement | 3 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 62% | 78% |
| General courts-martial | 79% | 79% |
Rule 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. Judges also sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. These records list trial dates, not offense dates. Cases tried in 2024 may fall under either set of rules, and the data cannot connect any figure to the changes. Evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, and administrative separations are not recorded.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with a trial date in October 2024 (43 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 September 2024 (previous / next)
- What the Army Tried in November 2024 (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.