Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 107 Cases Compare, 2021–2025
Contested Article 107 (false official statement) cases ended in a full acquittal 10% of the time from 2021–2025 (13 of 126), compared with 37% for all courts-martial in those years. The records hold 335 such cases across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 107 › Across the services
Short answer: Contested Article 107 (false official statement) cases ended in a full acquittal 10% of the time from 2021–2025 (13 of 126), compared with 37% for all courts-martial in those years. The records hold 335 such cases across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. A punitive discharge followed 57% of enlisted convictions, compared with 65% across all courts-martial in those years.
Few Full Acquittals in Contested Cases
Only 13 of the 126 contested Article 107 cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (10%). For all courts-martial in the same years, the rate was 37%. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.
By service, the Army rate was 15%, from 62 contested cases with a verdict. The Navy-Marine Corps rate was 8%, from 53 such cases. No Air Force rate is given, because Air Force records rarely list the charges in cases that end in a full acquittal.
How Often Each Service Contested the Charge
The Navy-Marine Corps had the highest contested share: 45% of 119 cases with a plea recorded. The Army share was 37% of 167 cases. The Air Force share was 25% of 44 cases, the lowest of the three services.
The remaining cases in each service were guilty pleas. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.
| Service | Contested share | Cases with a plea recorded | Full acquittal (contested, verdict reached) | Contested cases with a verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 37% | 167 | 15% | 62 |
| Air Force | 25% | 44 | — | — |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 45% | 119 | 8% | 53 |
Where the Cases Were Tried
The Army tried the most Article 107 cases, with 167. That is 7% of all Army cases in these years. The Navy-Marine Corps had 121 cases, or 6% of its cases. The Air Force had 47, or 4% of its cases.
Article 107 covers false official statements. A case charging it can carry other charges, so the sentences below cover every charge in each case, not the false statement alone.
| Service | Cases charging Article 107 | Share of that service's cases |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 167 | 7% |
| Air Force | 47 | 4% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 121 | 6% |
Confinement After a Conviction
The Army had 158 convictions, and 73% of them included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, and 19% of Army sentences were longer than 1 year. The Navy-Marine Corps had 117 convictions, with 71% including confinement, a median of 6 months, and 16% longer than 1 year.
The Air Force had 47 convictions. Of those, 79% included confinement, which was the highest share. The Air Force median was the shortest at 4 months, and only 6% of its sentences were longer than 1 year.
These are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Service | Convictions | Included confinement | Median confinement | More than 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 158 | 73% | 5 months | 19% |
| Air Force | 47 | 79% | 4 months | 6% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 117 | 71% | 6 months | 16% |
Punitive Discharges and Court Level
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. The Army imposed one on 61% of 140 convicted enlisted members. The Navy-Marine Corps rate was 56% of 105, and the Air Force rate was 50% of 46.
The Army also tried a larger share of these cases at a general court-martial: 64%, compared with 35% in the Navy-Marine Corps and 26% in the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
| Service | Convicted enlisted members | Punitive discharge | General court-martial share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 140 | 61% | 64% |
| Air Force | 46 | 50% | 26% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 105 | 56% | 35% |
Cases by Year
The yearly total was highest in 2021, with 113 cases. It fell to 66 in 2022, 47 in 2023, and 44 in 2024, then rose to 65 in 2025.
The Army count went from 63 in 2021 to 18 in 2024 and 26 in 2025. The Navy-Marine Corps count went from 42 in 2021 to 19 in 2022 and stayed between 18 and 23 after that. The Air Force had 8 or fewer cases a year until 2025, when it had 16.
| Year | Army | Air Force | Navy-Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | 8 | 42 |
| 2022 | 40 | 7 | 19 |
| 2023 | 20 | 8 | 19 |
| 2024 | 18 | 8 | 18 |
| 2025 | 26 | 16 | 23 |
Rank of the Accused
Among the accused with rank recorded, the Army had a more senior group. In the Army, 43% were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 46% were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 11% were officers. In the Navy-Marine Corps, 59% were junior enlisted, 38% were NCOs, and 4% were officers. In the Air Force, 62% were junior enlisted, 36% were NCOs, and 2% were officers.
The rank shares use 167 Army cases, 47 Air Force cases, and 112 Navy-Marine Corps cases.
| Service | Cases with rank | Junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) | NCOs (E-5 to E-9) | Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 167 | 43% | 46% | 11% |
| Air Force | 47 | 62% | 36% | 2% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 112 | 59% | 38% | 4% |
Law Changes and Gaps in the Records
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on the offense date, and these records give only trial dates. Trials from 2024 on therefore mix cases under the old rules and the new rules.
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative action.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 107 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial in all three service groups with trial dates in 2021–2025 that charged Article 107 (335 cases). Coast Guard cases are not included.
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
- Article 107 (False Official Statements): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
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- 833 Article 92 Courts-Martial in Three Services, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 117a Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 120 Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 128b Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Article 107 explained on the law firm's website
- 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.