When Article 89 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
There were 26 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2013–2026 that charged both disrespect (Article 89) and an orders violation (Article 92). Officers made up 23% of the accused, and 2 of 6 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 89 › With Article 92
Short answer: There were 26 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2013–2026 that charged both disrespect (Article 89) and an orders violation (Article 92). Officers made up 23% of the accused, and 2 of 6 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. Sentences longer than one year came in 12% of convictions, compared with 7% in all cases charging Article 89.
Officers Made Up 23% of the Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 54% of the accused. NCOs and officers each made up 23%. In all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 89, junior enlisted members were 51% of the accused.
6 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these records, and 2 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a dismissal does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not cover.
Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members
A punitive discharge followed 37% of enlisted convictions: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. That is the same as the 37% in all cases charging Article 89.
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Confinement at General and Special Courts-Martial
11 of the 26 cases were general courts-martial (42%), compared with 32% in all cases charging Article 89. At the general level, 60% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 9 months. At the 15 special courts-martial, 67% did, with a median of 4 months.
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 cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
How Long Were the Sentences?
Of 25 convictions, 16 included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, close to the 4 months in all cases charging Article 89. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 8 months or longer.
Sentences longer than one year came in 3 of 25 convictions (12%), compared with 7% in the wider group. All 3 were more than 1 year but under 5 years. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were less common here: 4%, compared with 15%. No confinement made up 36%, compared with 29%, and terms under 6 months made up 48%, compared with 49%.
All of these are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 89 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 9 | 36% | 29% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 48% | 49% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 1 | 4% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 12% | 5% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 2% |
Fewer Contested Cases
The plea is listed in 22 of the 26 records. 16 accused pleaded guilty, and 6 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, which makes the case contested. The contested share was 27%, lower than the 35% in all cases charging Article 89.
This data does not break out verdicts for the 6 contested cases.
Charges Filed With Disrespect and Orders Violations
Article 89 was never the only charge. Besides Article 92, the most common other charges were Article 134 (general article) in 6 cases, Article 86 (AWOL) in 6, Article 87a (resisting apprehension, numbered since 2019) in 5, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 5.
Each sentence covers every charge in its case, so these charges are included in the confinement and discharge figures.
Trial Years and Locations
The 26 cases were tried from February 2013 to February 2026. The highest count was 5 in 2023, followed by 4 in 2021 and 3 in each of 2022 and 2025. No case appears in 2014 or 2024, and 2026 is a partial year.
Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 3 cases each. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Fort Bragg, and Norfolk, Virginia had 2 each. Together these five locations account for 46% of the 26 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not show that a location 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 they cannot show which rules applied in each case. They show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences, but not the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 89 and Article 92 (26 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, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 89 (Disrespect Toward Superior Officer; Assault of Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 92 (Failure to Obey Order or Regulation): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- When Article 89 and Article 90 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?
- Fewer or More? Disrespect Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025
- How Has Article 89 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
- AWOL Plus Disrespect: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 86 and 89
- Article 127 Plus General Article: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 127 and 134
- Articles 107 and 115 in the Same Case: What the Records Show
- 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.