Article 90 Across the Services: Cases, Pleas, and Sentences, 2021–2025
The Army tried 155 of the 248 courts-martial charging Article 90 (disobeying an officer) across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from 2021–2025.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 90 › Across the services
Short answer: The Army tried 155 of the 248 courts-martial charging Article 90 (disobeying an officer) across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from 2021–2025. Of 69 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (10%), compared with 37% for all courts-martial in those years. The contested share was 28%, compared with 35% overall.
The Army Tried Most of These Cases
Article 90 appeared in 6% of Army courts-martial in these years, with 155 cases. In the Navy-Marine Corps, it appeared in 4% of courts-martial (69 cases). In the Air Force, it appeared in 2% (24 cases).
The Army had more Article 90 cases than the other services in every year. Its count was 42 in 2021, 28 in 2022, 33 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 24 in 2025.
| Service | Cases charging Article 90 | Share of that service's cases |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 155 | 6% |
| Air Force | 24 | 2% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 69 | 4% |
Few Full Acquittals
Among Army contested cases that reached a verdict, 13% of 38 ended in a full acquittal. Among Navy-Marine Corps contested cases, 4% of 24 did. Both are lower than the 37% for all courts-martial in those years. A full acquittal means a finding of not guilty on every charge in the case.
Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal. No Air Force acquittal rate is given for this offense.
Who Contested the Charges
A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea to at least one charge. The Navy-Marine Corps had the highest contested share, at 35% of 69 cases with a plea recorded. The Air Force share was 33% of 21, and the Army share was 25% of 155.
The rest of the cases were guilty pleas. The records do not show why an accused chose either path.
| Service | Contested share | Cases with a plea recorded | Full acquittal (contested, verdict reached) | Contested cases with a verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 25% | 155 | 13% | 38 |
| Air Force | 33% | 21 | — | — |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 35% | 69 | 4% | 24 |
Army Sentences Were More Often Longer Than a Year
The Army had 150 convictions in these cases. The median confinement was 6 months, and 31% of the sentences were longer than 1 year. Confinement was part of 90% of Army sentences.
The Air Force and the Navy-Marine Corps each had a median of 7 months, from 23 and 68 convictions. Every Air Force conviction included confinement, compared with 74% in the Navy-Marine Corps. Sentences longer than 1 year were 22% of Air Force convictions and 19% of Navy-Marine Corps convictions.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A case charging Article 90 can include other charges, and the sentence covers all of them.
| Service | Convictions | Included confinement | Median confinement | More than 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 150 | 90% | 6 months | 31% |
| Air Force | 23 | 100% | 7 months | 22% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 68 | 74% | 7 months | 19% |
Punitive Discharges and Court Level
The Army imposed a punitive discharge on 72% of 138 convicted enlisted members, and the Air Force on 70% of 20. The Navy-Marine Corps rate was lower, at 55% of 62. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge.
The same order held for the share of cases tried at a general court-martial: 73% in the Army, 58% in the Air Force, and 39% in the Navy-Marine Corps. 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 | 138 | 72% | 73% |
| Air Force | 20 | 70% | 58% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 62 | 55% | 39% |
How the Yearly Count Moved
The total was 63 in 2021, 48 in 2022, 45 in 2023, 43 in 2024, and 49 in 2025. The Navy-Marine Corps count was 19 in 2021, 5 in 2023, and 16 in 2025. The Air Force count was 1 in 2024 and 9 in 2025.
With yearly counts this small in the Air Force and the Navy-Marine Corps, a change of a few cases can look large. The service figures here are best read as direction, not as precise rates.
| Year | Army | Air Force | Navy-Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | 2 | 19 |
| 2022 | 28 | 5 | 15 |
| 2023 | 33 | 7 | 5 |
| 2024 | 28 | 1 | 14 |
| 2025 | 24 | 9 | 16 |
Rank of the Accused
Among the accused with rank recorded, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 64% in the Army, 71% in the Air Force, and 73% in the Navy-Marine Corps. NCOs (E-5 to E-9) were 28% in the Army, 17% in the Air Force, and 23% in the Navy-Marine Corps.
Officers made up 12% of Air Force accused, 8% of Army accused, and 5% of Navy-Marine Corps accused. The Navy-Marine Corps shares use 66 cases with rank listed.
| Service | Cases with rank | Junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) | NCOs (E-5 to E-9) | Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 155 | 64% | 28% | 8% |
| Air Force | 24 | 71% | 17% | 12% |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 66 | 73% | 23% | 5% |
Law Changes in This 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. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so cases tried from 2024 on mix the old and the new rules.
What Is Not in the Records
The records do not describe the order that was disobeyed, the evidence, or the plea terms. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included, and a sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 90 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 90 (248 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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- Article 90 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.