When Article 115 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?

Trends › By Offense › Article 115 › With Article 92

Based on 42 cases · 2021–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea

The main difference from other threat cases is how the cases were resolved. Of the 42 cases, 33 accused pleaded guilty and 9 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 21%, compared with 37% for all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115.

At special courts-martial, 5% of cases were contested. At general courts-martial, 35% were. With only 9 contested cases in total, the records give no acquittal figures for this pairing. The outcomes below are almost all from guilty pleas.

Sentences Were Shorter Than Other Threat Cases

Confinement was part of 85% of the 41 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, slightly lower than the 6 months for all Article 115 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 1.1 years or longer.

Sentences over one year were less common than in the comparison group: 9 of 41 convictions (22%), compared with 28%. 6 convictions (15%) included no confinement, compared with 8%. 18 (44%) included less than 6 months, compared with 38%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Sentences by Court Level

General courts-martial made up 55% of the cases (23 of 42). A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The other 19 cases were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year.

The median confinement was 10 months at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial. The longer sentences in this group came from general courts-martial, the only level that can adjudge more than a year.

Punitive Discharges at the Same Rate as Other Threat Cases

A punitive discharge was part of the sentence in 67% of enlisted convictions. That is the same as the 67% for all Article 115 cases. There were 23 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges.

The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation, which court-martial records do not show.

Who Was Charged?

Most of the accused were junior enlisted members. Grades E-1 to E-4 made up 80% of the accused, NCOs (E-5 to E-9) 17%, and officers 2%. For all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115, junior enlisted members were 62%.

This group had a higher share of junior enlisted members than threat cases overall. The comparison group had more NCOs and officers.

Assault and Domestic Violence Charges

Article 128 (assault) was charged in 17 of the 42 cases and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 12. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 8 and Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) in 7. Sentences cover every charge of conviction, so these other charges are part of the confinement and discharge figures.

Years and Installations

Trials took place from April 2021 through January 2026. There were 13 cases in 2021, 10 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 8 in 2024, and 4 in 2025. The 2026 count of 2 covers part of the year. The records give trial dates, so these counts show when cases were tried, not when the conduct happened.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 7 cases, the most of any installation. Fort Bragg had 4, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Quantico, Virginia, and Fort Bliss had 3 each. These 5 installations account for 48% of the 42 cases. A large installation tries more cases of every kind.

What the Records Do Not Show

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as domestic violence. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. These rules depend on the offense date. The records list only trial dates, so cases from 2024 on include both old-rule and new-rule cases. The data cannot show whether the change affected outcomes.

The records also do not include the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or matters handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. With 42 cases, the percentages can change noticeably as new cases are added.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.