231 Article 131b Courts-Martial in Three Services, 2021–2025
Courts-martial charging Article 131b (obstruction) had a median confinement of 10 months from 2021–2025, compared with 6 months for all courts-martial in those years. Of 87 contested cases that reached a verdict, 16 ended in a full acquittal (18%), compared with 37% overall.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Across the services
Short answer: Courts-martial charging Article 131b (obstruction) had a median confinement of 10 months from 2021–2025, compared with 6 months for all courts-martial in those years. Of 87 contested cases that reached a verdict, 16 ended in a full acquittal (18%), compared with 37% overall. The records hold 231 Article 131b cases in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
Similar Sentences in All Three Services
The services were close to each other on confinement for this offense. The Army median was 9 months, from 97 convictions. The Air Force and the Navy-Marine Corps each had a median of 11 months, from 23 and 95 convictions. For all three services together, the median was 10 months, longer than the 6-month median for all courts-martial in those years.
The share of sentences longer than 1 year was also close: 35% in the Army, 35% in the Air Force, and 36% in the Navy-Marine Corps. Confinement was part of 85% of Army sentences, 87% of Air Force sentences, and 80% of Navy-Marine Corps sentences.
A case charging Article 131b can include other charges. Each sentence here is the adjudged sentence for every charge in the case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Service | Convictions | Included confinement | Median confinement | More than 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 97 | 85% | 9 months | 35% |
| Air Force | 23 | 87% | 11 months | 35% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 95 | 80% | 11 months | 36% |
Full Acquittals Were Uncommon, Especially in the Navy-Marine Corps
In the Navy-Marine Corps, 3% of 31 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. In the Army, 28% of 46 did. Across the records, the combined rate was 18%, lower than the 37% for all courts-martial in those years.
Air Force records rarely list the charges when a case ends in a full acquittal. For that reason, there is no Air Force acquittal rate for this offense.
How Often Cases Were Contested
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The Army contested share was 42% of 110 cases with a plea recorded. The Air Force share was 40% of 25, and the Navy-Marine Corps share was 33% of 95.
The remaining cases were guilty pleas. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested.
| Service | Contested share | Cases with a plea recorded | Full acquittal (contested, verdict reached) | Contested cases with a verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 42% | 110 | 28% | 46 |
| Air Force | 40% | 25 | — | — |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 33% | 95 | 3% | 31 |
Discharges and General Courts-Martial
The Air Force imposed a punitive discharge on 87% of its 23 convicted enlisted members. The Navy-Marine Corps rate was 74% of 87, and the Army rate was 67% of 89. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
The Army tried 76% of these cases at a general court-martial, the Air Force 68%, and the Navy-Marine Corps 52%. 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 | 89 | 67% | 76% |
| Air Force | 23 | 87% | 68% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 87 | 74% | 52% |
Cases by Service and Year
The Army had 110 of the 231 cases, and the Navy-Marine Corps had 96. In each of those services, Article 131b appeared in 5% of all courts-martial. The Air Force had 25 cases, or 2% of its courts-martial.
The yearly total was 60 in 2021, 50 in 2022, 34 in 2023, 48 in 2024, and 39 in 2025. The Army count was 29 in 2024 and 15 in 2025. The Navy-Marine Corps count was 14 in 2024 and 22 in 2025. The Navy-Marine Corps had more cases than the Army in 2021 (28 compared with 25) and in 2025 (22 compared with 15). The Air Force had between 2 and 7 cases a year.
| Year | Army | Air Force | Navy-Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | 7 | 28 |
| 2022 | 26 | 7 | 17 |
| 2023 | 15 | 4 | 15 |
| 2024 | 29 | 5 | 14 |
| 2025 | 15 | 2 | 22 |
Rank Differed by Service
In the Army, 51% of the accused with rank recorded were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 41% were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4). In the Navy-Marine Corps, 67% were junior enlisted and 27% were NCOs. In the Air Force, 64% were junior enlisted and 36% were NCOs.
Officers were 8% of Army accused and 5% of Navy-Marine Corps accused. No Air Force officers appear in these cases. The Navy-Marine Corps shares use 92 cases with rank listed.
| Service | Cases with rank | Junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) | NCOs (E-5 to E-9) | Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 110 | 41% | 51% | 8% |
| Air Force | 25 | 64% | 36% | 0% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 92 | 67% | 27% | 5% |
Rules in Effect During These Years
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel 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 new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so cases tried from 2024 on include some under each set of rules.
| Service | Cases charging Article 131b | Share of that service's cases |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 110 | 5% |
| Air Force | 25 | 2% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 96 | 5% |
What the Records Leave Out
The records do not say what conduct the obstruction charge described, what evidence was offered, or what the plea terms were. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included.
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 131b (231 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
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- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice and Perjury: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences
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.