When Article 108 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
The records include 17 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2021–2026 that charged both Article 108 (military property) and Article 92 (orders violation).
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 108 › With Article 92
Short answer: The records include 17 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2021–2026 that charged both Article 108 (military property) and Article 92 (orders violation). Only 36% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 58% in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 108. 35% of cases were contested, against 21%.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
5 of 14 convicted enlisted members left with a punitive discharge. All 5 were bad-conduct discharges, and none was dishonorable. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 108, the share was 58%.
The lack of a punitive discharge in a sentence does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Confinement Was Less Common
15 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. 9 of those sentences included confinement (60%).
The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months median in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 108. A quarter of the terms were 10 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences for all charges in a case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Pleas
Contested cases made up 35% of those with a plea recorded: 6 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 11 guilty pleas. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 108, the contested share was 21%.
Other Charges in These Cases
Article 92 appeared in all 17 cases. The next most common were Article 121 (larceny) in 6, and Article 131b (obstruction), Article 128 (assault), and Article 134 (general article) in 5 each. None of the cases charged Article 108 by itself.
Rank and Court Level
Among the accused with rank recorded, 7 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) and 9 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9). No officers or warrant officers appear. The sheet calls this mix similar to all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 108, where 46% were junior enlisted.
General courts-martial made up 53% of these cases (9 of 17), and special courts-martial the rest. Only a general court-martial can sentence an accused to more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge.
Trials by Year
The first trial was in February 2021 and the last in June 2026. There were 11 in 2021, none in 2022, 2 in 2023, none in 2024, 2 in 2025, and 2 in 2026. The 2026 count is a partial year.
Law Changes and Limits
Charging decisions for covered offenses moved from commanders to special trial counsel on December 28, 2023. New sentencing parameters, with the military judge setting the sentence, apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records have trial dates but not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on can involve either set of rules.
These records leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and any case resolved by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 108 and Article 92 (17 cases). Air Force cases are left out because Air Force records rarely list the charges in acquittals.
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 108 (Military Property; Loss, Damage, Destruction): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 92 (Failure to Obey Order or Regulation): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- When Article 108 and Article 121 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Military Property Plus General Article: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 108 and 134
- When Article 108 and Article 128 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Fewer or More? Military Property Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025
- Fewer or More? Military Property Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- 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.