> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# AWOL Plus Disrespect: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 86 and 89
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-and-article-89-charged-together/
- Published: 2026-10-30T08:15:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:15:26.000Z
- Description: The records show 28 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2013–2025 that charged both AWOL (Article 86) and disrespect (Article 89).
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 86, Article 89

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 86](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) › With Article 89

**Short answer:** The records show 28 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2013–2025 that charged both AWOL (Article 86) and disrespect (Article 89). These cases were contested more often than all cases charging Article 86 (40% compared with 20%), and a punitive discharge followed fewer enlisted convictions (44% compared with 62%). NCOs made up 50% of the accused.

Based on 28 cases · 2013–2025 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## NCOs Made Up 50% of the Accused

NCOs made up 50% of the accused in these 28 cases. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 43%, and officers 7%. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 86, junior enlisted members were 73% of the accused.

The records list 7 general courts-martial and 19 special courts-martial, and 2 cases have no court level listed. The general court-martial share was 27%, compared with 21% in all cases charging Article 86.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. Most cases in this pairing were tried at the lower level.

## Contested Pleas Were More Common

The plea is listed in 25 of the 28 records. 15 accused pleaded guilty, and 10 contested at least one charge. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.

The contested share was 40%. In all cases charging Article 86, it was 20%.

## Verdicts in the Contested Cases

Of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal (10%). That is close to the 11% for all cases charging Article 86.

6 contested cases (60%) ended in a partial acquittal. A partial acquittal means the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.

## Fewer Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 44% of enlisted convictions: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. In all cases charging Article 86, the rate was 62%.

2 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these records, and 1 was dismissed. A dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## How Much Confinement Followed a Conviction?

Of 27 convictions, 19 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as in all cases charging Article 86\. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 7 months or longer.

Convictions with no confinement made up 30% here, compared with 14% in the wider group. Terms under 6 months made up 48%, compared with 56%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 15%, compared with 20%.

Sentences longer than one year came in 2 of 27 convictions (7%), about the same as the 9% across all cases charging Article 86\. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 86 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 8           | 30%        | 14%                                                               |
| Under 6 months                  | 13          | 48%        | 56%                                                               |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 4           | 15%        | 20%                                                               |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 1           | 4%         | 6%                                                                |
| 5 years or more                 | 1           | 4%         | 3%                                                                |

## Charges That Appeared With AWOL and Disrespect

None of the 28 cases charged Article 86 alone. Across all cases charging Article 86, 65 of 391 had no other charge.

Besides Article 89, the most frequent other charges were Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 9 cases, Article 107 (false official statement) in 7, Article 91 (insubordination) in 7, and Article 112a (drug) in 6.

## Years and Installations

The cases were tried from February 2013 to September 2025\. Most came in later years: 5 in 2022, 7 in 2023, and 6 in 2025\. Before 2019, no year had more than 1 case.

Fort Riley had the most cases (7), followed by Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (3), Fort Sill (2), Wheeler Army Airfield (2), and Fort Irwin (2). These five installations account for 57% of the 28 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not show that a base has more of this conduct.

## Law Changes and Record Limits

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, with fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply to offenses after December 27, 2023.

The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so it is not possible to tell which rules applied to each case. The records also do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 86 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 86 and Article 89 (28 cases). Air Force cases are left out because Air Force records rarely list the charges in acquittals.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 86 (AWOL): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Article 89 (Disrespect Toward Superior Officer; Assault of Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-89-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [When Article 86 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-and-article-92-charged-together/)
- [When Article 86 and Article 90 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-and-article-90-charged-together/)
- [When Article 86 and Article 91 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-and-article-91-charged-together/)
- [Army Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-trend-2021-2025/)
- [Air Force Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-86-trend-2016-2025/)
- [Article 86 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.