Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 117a Cases Compare, 2021–2025
From 2021 to 2025, 57 courts-martial in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps charged Article 117a (intimate image). Only 21% of these cases were contested, compared with 35% of all courts-martial in those years.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 117a › Across the services
Short answer: From 2021 to 2025, 57 courts-martial in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps charged Article 117a (intimate image). Only 21% of these cases were contested, compared with 35% of all courts-martial in those years. Of the 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal (17%), compared with 37% across all courts-martial.
Most Article 117a Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share differed by service. It was 32% in the Navy and Marine Corps, from 22 cases with a plea recorded. It was 18% in the Army, also from 22 cases, and 8% in the Air Force, from 12 cases.
Few contested cases ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of all charges. In the Army, 1 of 4 contested cases that reached a verdict did. In the Navy and Marine Corps, 1 of 7 did. Air Force records rarely list the charges in full acquittals, so no Air Force acquittal rate is given for this offense.
| Service | Contested share | Cases with a plea recorded | Full acquittal (contested, verdict reached) | Contested cases with a verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 18% | 22 | 1 of 4 | 4 |
| Air Force | 8% | 12 | — | — |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 32% | 22 | 1 of 7 | 7 |
Which Services Tried These Cases
The Army and the Navy and Marine Corps each tried 22 cases charging Article 117a. The Air Force tried 13. In each service, these cases were 1% of all courts-martial.
The records hold cases from January 2021 to September 2025. The yearly totals were 10 in 2021, 18 in 2022, 11 in 2023, 12 in 2024, and 6 in 2025. The count for 2025 covers only part of the year.
| Service | Cases charging Article 117a | Share of that service's cases |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 22 | 1% |
| Air Force | 13 | 1% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 22 | 1% |
Confinement Differed by Service
Every one of the 13 Air Force convictions included confinement, and the median confinement was 9 months. Terms of more than 1 year were part of 31% of Air Force convictions.
The Army had 21 convictions. Confinement was part of 90% of them, with a median of 4 months, and 19% included more than 1 year. The Navy and Marine Corps also had 21 convictions. Confinement was part of 67% of them, with a median of 5 months, and 10% included more than 1 year.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Many of these cases carried other charges, and each sentence covers all of them.
| Service | Convictions | Included confinement | Median confinement | More than 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 21 | 90% | 4 months | 19% |
| Air Force | 13 | 100% | 9 months | 31% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 21 | 67% | 5 months | 10% |
Punitive Discharges and Court Level
A punitive discharge, meaning a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, was part of 83% of sentences for the 12 convicted Air Force enlisted members. The share was 67% for 21 convicted Army enlisted members and 40% for 20 convicted Navy and Marine Corps enlisted members.
General courts-martial made up 73% of Army cases, 54% of Air Force cases, and 18% of Navy and Marine Corps cases. 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 | 21 | 67% | 73% |
| Air Force | 12 | 83% | 54% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 20 | 40% | 18% |
Year-by-Year Counts
The Air Force count was highest in 2022, with 7 cases, and was 1 in 2021, 2023, and 2025. The Army count was 6 in 2021 and 2 in 2025. The Navy and Marine Corps count ranged from 3 to 6 per year.
| Year | Army | Air Force | Navy-Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| 2022 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| 2023 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| 2024 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Rank of the Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up most of the accused in every service: 77% in the Air Force, 75% in the Navy and Marine Corps, and 64% in the Army. NCOs (E-5 to E-9) were 36% in the Army, 25% in the Navy and Marine Corps, and 15% in the Air Force. Officers were 8% of the Air Force cases and 0% in the other services.
| Service | Cases with rank | Junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) | NCOs (E-5 to E-9) | Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 22 | 64% | 36% | 0% |
| Air Force | 13 | 77% | 15% | 8% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 20 | 75% | 25% | 0% |
A Covered Offense Since December 2023
Article 117a is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both rules depend on the offense date, which these records do not give.
The records include only cases that reached a court-martial. They do not show nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial in all three service groups with trial dates in 2021–2025 that charged Article 117a (57 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.
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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.