Understanding Trends
Article 131b (Obstruction, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends
Analysis of the 410 Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial in the data that charged Article 131b (Obstruction, numbered since 2019).
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 131b
Analysis of the 410 Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial in the data that charged Article 131b (Obstruction, numbered since 2019).
By Service
- How Has Article 131b Changed in Army Courts-Martial Since 2021?
- Air Force Article 131b Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 131b, 2017–2025
Sentences
- How Much Confinement for an Article 131b Conviction in the Army?
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Obstruction Conviction?
- How Much Confinement for an Article 131b Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
Contested Cases and Acquittals
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 131b Cases Acquitted?
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases: What Happened at Trial
Guilty Pleas
- Pleading Guilty to Article 131b in the Army: What Sentences Followed?
- Pleading Guilty to Article 131b in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?
- Pleading Guilty to Article 131b in the Navy-Marine Corps: What Sentences Followed?
By Installation
- Did Obstruction Cases at San Diego, California Change After 2019?
- How Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Handled Obstruction Cases (Article 131b), 2019–2023
- 13 Obstruction Courts-Martial at Norfolk, Virginia, 2014–2018: What the Records Show
- Obstruction Charges at San Diego, California, 2013–2018: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences
- Article 131b Cases at San Diego, California, 2019–2023: 17 Courts-Martial
Year by Year
- How Army Obstruction Cases Ended in 2021
- Army Article 131b Cases in 2022
- Obstruction at Army Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers
- Army Article 131b Cases in 2024
- Army Article 131b Cases in 2025
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2018
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases in 2019
- Obstruction at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2020: The Year in Numbers
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2021
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2022
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases in 2025
By Rank
- Army Obstruction Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences
- Army Obstruction Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences
- What Happens to Air Force Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing Obstruction Charges?
- Air Force Obstruction Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences
- What Happens to Navy-Marine Corps Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing Obstruction Charges?
- What Happens to Navy-Marine Corps NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Obstruction Charges?
Charged Together With Other Articles
- Articles 131b and 92 in the Same Case: What the Records Show
- Assault Plus Obstruction: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 128 and 131b
- When Article 131b and Article 134 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 107 and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 112a and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Articles 131b and 81 in the Same Case: What the Records Show
- When Article 120 and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 121 and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Articles 128b and 131b in the Same Case: What the Records Show
- Articles 131b and 90 in the Same Case: What the Records Show
- When Article 131b and Article 80 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 120b and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 115 and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- When Article 119b and Article 131b Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
Charged Together, by Service
- Army Cases Charging Both Article 107 and Article 131b
- Army Cases Charging Both Article 131b and Article 92
- Army Courts-Martial With Article 128b and Article 131b, 2021–2026
- Army Courts-Martial With Article 131b and Article 134, 2021–2026
- Article 112a With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show
- Article 112a With Article 131b in the Navy and Marine Corps: What the Records Show
- Article 120 With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show
- Article 120b With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show
- Article 128 With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show
- Article 131b With Article 92 in the Navy and Marine Corps: What the Records Show
- Navy-Marine Corps Cases Charging Both Article 131b and Article 134
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial With Article 128 and Article 131b, 2021–2026
Counsel of Record
- Army Defense Counsel in Contested Article 131b Cases: Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2023–2026
- Army Trial Counsel in Contested Article 131b Cases: Prior Cases and Verdicts, 2023–2026
Across the Services
Judge Alone or Members
- Contested Army Article 131b Cases Decided by Members (A Panel)
- When A Military Judge Alone Decided a Contested Army Article 131b Case, 2021–2025
How this data was built: methodology and known gaps.
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.