1129 Article 134 Courts-Martial in Three Services, 2021–2025
Article 134 (general article) was charged in 1129 courts-martial across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from 2021–2025. The median confinement in these cases was 1.2 years, compared with 6 months for all courts-martial in those years.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 134 › Across the services
Short answer: Article 134 (general article) was charged in 1129 courts-martial across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from 2021–2025. The median confinement in these cases was 1.2 years, compared with 6 months for all courts-martial in those years. Of 299 contested cases that reached a verdict, 50 ended in a full acquittal (17%), compared with 37% overall.
Sentences Longer Than the Overall Median
The Air Force had the longest median confinement for Article 134 cases, at 1.4 years from 196 convictions. Of the Air Force sentences, 55% were longer than 1 year. Confinement was part of 95% of them.
The Navy-Marine Corps median was 1.3 years from 388 convictions, with 86% including confinement and 46% longer than 1 year. The Army median was 1 year from 488 convictions, with 88% including confinement and 42% longer than 1 year.
A case charging Article 134 can list other articles as well. Each figure is the adjudged sentence for all charges in the case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Service | Convictions | Included confinement | Median confinement | More than 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 488 | 88% | 1 year | 42% |
| Air Force | 196 | 95% | 1.4 years | 55% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 388 | 86% | 1.3 years | 46% |
Full Acquittals by Service
Among Army contested cases that reached a verdict, 24% of 133 ended in a full acquittal. In the Navy-Marine Corps, 10% of 115 did. Both rates are lower than the 37% for all courts-martial in the same years.
No Air Force acquittal rate is listed. Air Force records rarely give the charges in cases where the accused was acquitted of all charges, so a rate for one article cannot be measured.
Most Cases Ended in Guilty Pleas
The contested share, meaning cases with a not-guilty or mixed plea, was 26% in the Army (520 cases with a plea recorded), 27% in the Air Force (192), and 29% in the Navy-Marine Corps (398). In each service, most of the accused pleaded guilty.
The Army had the lowest contested share of the three services, and it also had the higher full-acquittal rate of the services with a rate. The records show which plea was entered, not why.
| Service | Contested share | Cases with a plea recorded | Full acquittal (contested, verdict reached) | Contested cases with a verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 26% | 520 | 24% | 133 |
| Air Force | 27% | 192 | — | — |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 29% | 398 | 10% | 115 |
Punitive Discharges and Court Level
The Air Force imposed a punitive discharge on 81% of 179 convicted enlisted members. The Army rate was 78% of 448, and the Navy-Marine Corps rate was 73% of 368. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and a sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
General courts-martial heard 84% of Army cases, 80% of Air Force cases, and 68% of Navy-Marine Corps cases. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. The Navy-Marine Corps had the lowest general court-martial share of the three services, yet its median confinement of 1.3 years was longer than the Army median of 1 year.
| Service | Convicted enlisted members | Punitive discharge | General court-martial share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 448 | 78% | 84% |
| Air Force | 179 | 81% | 80% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 368 | 73% | 68% |
A Common Charge in Every Service
Article 134 appeared in 22% of Navy-Marine Corps courts-martial, 21% of Army courts-martial, and 17% of Air Force courts-martial in these years. By count, the Army had 520 cases, the Navy-Marine Corps 405, and the Air Force 204.
| Service | Cases charging Article 134 | Share of that service's cases |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 520 | 21% |
| Air Force | 204 | 17% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 405 | 22% |
A Steady Yearly Count
The yearly count changed little over the period. The total was 262 in 2021, 216 in 2022, 207 in 2023, 228 in 2024, and 216 in 2025.
The Army count ranged from 95 to 113, and the Army had more Article 134 cases than the Navy-Marine Corps in every year. The Navy-Marine Corps count was 110 in 2021, then between 68 and 84. The Air Force count was 29 in 2023 and rose to 46 in 2024 and 48 in 2025.
| Year | Army | Air Force | Navy-Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 113 | 39 | 110 |
| 2022 | 104 | 42 | 70 |
| 2023 | 110 | 29 | 68 |
| 2024 | 98 | 46 | 84 |
| 2025 | 95 | 48 | 73 |
Rank of the Accused
In the Navy-Marine Corps, 66% of the accused with rank recorded were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 31% were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3% were officers. In the Air Force, the shares were 57%, 35%, and 8%. In the Army, they were 53%, 38%, and 8%.
The shares use 518 Army cases, 204 Air Force cases, and 390 Navy-Marine Corps cases.
| Service | Cases with rank | Junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) | NCOs (E-5 to E-9) | Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 518 | 53% | 38% | 8% |
| Air Force | 204 | 57% | 35% | 8% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 390 | 66% | 31% | 3% |
Rules That Changed in the Period
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. These rules depend on the offense date, and the records give only the trial date. Trials from 2024 on therefore mix cases under the old rules and the new ones, and the records cannot show whether any change in the numbers came from the law.
What Cannot Be Learned From These Records
The records do not describe the conduct behind each charge, what the evidence was, or what a plea agreement said. Conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation is also not included.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 134 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial in all three service groups with trial dates in 2021–2025 that charged Article 134 (1129 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
- Article 134 (General Article): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
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- 62 Article 87a Courts-Martial in Three Services, 2021–2025
- 833 Article 92 Courts-Martial in Three Services, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 107 Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 117a Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 120 Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Army, Air Force, or Navy-Marine Corps: How Article 128b Cases Compare, 2021–2025
- Article 134 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.