> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Drug Plus Disobeying An Officer: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 90 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-and-article-90-charged-together/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:55:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:15.000Z - Description: From 2016 to 2026, 51 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial charged both Article 112a (drug) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer). The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 5 months for all Article 112a cases in those services. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 112a, Article 90 [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 112a](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) › With Article 90 **Short answer:** From 2016 to 2026, 51 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial charged both Article 112a (drug) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer). The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 5 months for all Article 112a cases in those services. 77% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 70%. Based on 51 cases · 2016–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Median Confinement Was About the Same as Other Drug Cases Of 50 convictions, 45 included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 6 months. For all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a, it was 5 months. Long sentences were more common here. Sentences longer than one year were given in 11 of 50 convictions (22%), compared with 16% in the comparison group. A quarter of the sentences here were 1 year or longer. ## Confinement by Length The table compares each length of confinement with all Article 112a cases. Sentences under 6 months were less common here: 36% compared with 47%. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 32%, compared with 27%. 2 convictions included 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 5 | 10% | 10% | | Under 6 months | 18 | 36% | 47% | | 6 months to 1 year | 16 | 32% | 27% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 18% | 13% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 4% | 3% | ## More General Courts-Martial Than Other Drug Cases Of the 48 cases with a court level listed, 25 were general courts-martial (52%), compared with 27% for all Article 112a cases. Another 23 were special courts-martial. The court level is not listed for 3 cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. The median confinement was 1 year at general courts-martial and 4 months at special courts-martial. ## Most Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea The plea is listed in 43 of the 51 records. In 37, the accused pleaded guilty. In 6, the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge, which makes a case contested. The contested share was 14%, lower than the 18% for all Article 112a cases. Contested cases were more common at general courts-martial (22%) than at special courts-martial (6%). There were only 6 contested cases in total, so the records say little about how contested trials ended for this pairing. ## How Often Was There a Punitive Discharge? Of 47 convicted enlisted members, 36 received a punitive discharge: 30 bad-conduct and 6 dishonorable. That is 77%, compared with 70% in the comparison group. The records list 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and both were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. An enlisted member who did not receive a punitive discharge at trial could still face an administrative separation outside the court-martial process. ## Who Was Charged? The accused were 41 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 6 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 officers. The records describe this group as more junior than all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 112a. 41 of the accused were in grades E-1 to E-4\. The outcomes reported here mainly describe junior members charged with both offenses. There were 6 NCOs and 2 officers, so NCOs and officers were a small part of this group. ## Other Charges in These Cases Article 128 (assault) was charged in 13 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) in 12, Article 134 (general article) in 11, and Article 86 (AWOL) in 8\. A sentence covers every charge of conviction, so these other charges are part of the confinement and discharge figures. ## Most Cases Were Tried in 2021 and 2022 Trials took place from July 2016 to April 2026\. Most years had few cases, with 0 in 2018 and 1 in 2020\. There were 15 cases in 2021 and 10 in 2022, then 6 in 2023 and 8 in 2024\. The 2026 count of 2 covers part of the year. Fort Bliss had 8 cases, the most of any installation. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Camp Pendleton, California had 5 each, and Fort Riley and Fort Bragg had 3 each. These 5 installations account for 47% of the 51 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. ## What the Records Do Not Show The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. Since December 28, 2023, further changes affected how some cases are prosecuted and sentenced. Which rules applied depends on the offense date, not the trial date. The records give only the trial date, so they cannot show whether either change affected these numbers. The records do not describe the evidence or the terms of a plea agreement. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 112a on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 112a and Article 90 (51 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 112a (Wrongful Use, Possession of Controlled Substances): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Article 90 (Willfully Disobeying Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-90-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Drug Plus Orders Violation: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 92](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-and-article-92-charged-together/) - [When Article 112a and Article 81 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-and-article-81-charged-together/) - [Drug Plus AWOL: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 112a and 86](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-112a-and-article-86-charged-together/) - [Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-112a-trend-2021-2025/) - [Are Air Force Drug Courts-Martial Disappearing? Article 112a, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-112a-trend-2016-2025/) - [Article 112a explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **Compare: federal court.** [Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-no-crime-of-drug-use-article-112a/) · [Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-distribution-importation-vs-article-112a/) **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.