> ## 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. # Can a Special Court-Martial Give a Dishonorable Discharge? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/can-a-special-court-martial-give-a-dishonorable-discharge/ - Published: 2026-10-30T05:30:47.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T05:30:47.000Z - Description: No. A special court-martial can adjudge a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge, and it caps confinement at one year. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › Can a Special Court-Martial Give a Dishonorable Discharge? **Short answer:** No. A special court-martial can adjudge a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge, and it caps confinement at one year. Across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from 2021–2025, 2017 cases at a special court-martial ended in a conviction, and 44% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 84% in general court-martial convictions. The records list 5 special court-martial convictions with a dishonorable discharge, entries that conflict with the rule and may be recording errors. Based on 2017 cases · 2021–2025 · Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## The Rule on Discharges at a Special Court-Martial A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone. That version caps confinement at six months and allows no punitive discharge at all. ## How Many Convicted Enlisted Members Received a Punitive Discharge? The records list 1943 enlisted members convicted at a special court-martial. Of those, 859 received a punitive discharge (44%). In general court-martial convictions, the share was 84%. Only 5 of the 859 discharges are recorded as dishonorable. A special court-martial cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge, so those 5 entries conflict with the rule and may be recording errors in the public records. The rest were bad-conduct discharges. 43 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these cases, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Confinement Stayed Under the One-Year Cap in Nearly All Cases Confinement was part of 74% of the 2017 convictions. The median confinement was 3 months. In general court-martial convictions, the median was 1.1 years. 59% of special court-martial convictions were sentenced to under 6 months of confinement, and 26% had no confinement. Only 8 of 2017 convictions here were recorded as more than one year, compared with 45% of general court-martial convictions. Because a special court-martial is capped at one year, those 8 entries also conflict with the rule. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, general court-martial convictions | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 520 | 26% | 11% | | Under 6 months | 1194 | 59% | 24% | | 6 months to 1 year | 295 | 15% | 20% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 0% | 33% | | 5 years or more | 3 | 0% | 12% | ## Drug and Orders Charges Were More Common The charge lists cover 2007 of the 2017 cases. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) was the most common charge, in 517 cases (26%), compared with 9% of general court-martial convictions. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 432 cases (22%), compared with 13%. Article 134, the general article, appeared less often: 12%, compared with 31% at general courts-martial. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 3% of these cases, compared with 20%. Larceny under Article 121 and AWOL under Article 86 were more common here than at general courts-martial. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, general court-martial convictions | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------- | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 517 | 26% | 9% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 432 | 22% | 13% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 408 | 20% | 25% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 241 | 12% | 31% | | [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence | 225 | 11% | 14% | | [Art. 121](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Larceny | 217 | 11% | 5% | | [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements | 168 | 8% | 6% | | [Art. 86](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com) AWOL | 146 | 7% | 3% | ## Conviction on Each Top Charge Every case in this group ended in a conviction on at least one charge, but not always on each article charged. Article 112a ended in a conviction on that article in 516 of 517 cases. Article 92 did so in 428 of 432, Article 128 (assault) in 401 of 408, and Article 134 in 228 of 241. The median confinement for a conviction on each of these articles was 3 months. | Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 517 | 516 (100%) | 3 months | | Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 432 | 428 (99%) | 3 months | | Art. 128 Assault | 408 | 401 (98%) | 3 months | | Art. 134 General article | 241 | 228 (95%) | 3 months | ## Guilty Pleas and Partial Acquittals The plea is listed in 1974 of the 2017 records. 1589 accused pleaded guilty, and 385 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. The contested share was 20%, lower than the 30% in general court-martial convictions. Of the 385 contested cases, 125 ended in a partial acquittal (32%). A partial acquittal means not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Guilty pleas varied by charge. Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 87% of the time (434 of 501). Cases charging Article 92 did so 74% of the time (310 of 419). ## Rank of the Accused Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 64% of the accused at these special courts-martial. NCOs made up 34%, and officers 2%. Among general court-martial convictions, junior enlisted members made up 59%. ## Installations and Years Camp Pendleton, California, had the most of these cases, with 165\. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 135, Norfolk, Virginia, had 107, San Diego, California, had 105, and Bremerton, Washington, had 57\. These 5 installations account for 28% of the 2017 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not by itself point to a problem at a base. By year, the count was 449 in 2021, 406 in 2022, 340 in 2023, 398 in 2024, and 424 in 2025. ## Law Changes and Limits of the Records 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 is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence. Both rules depend on the offense date. The records list only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both sets of rules. The records cover only cases that reached a courtroom. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not included. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Special court-martial convictions in all services, trial dates 2021–2025 (2017), compared with general court-martial convictions (2619). 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 - [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub) - [Are Convicted Military Officers Dismissed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/are-convicted-military-officers-dismissed/) - [Court-Martial Sentences: Junior Enlisted Members Compared With NCOs](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/court-martial-sentences-junior-enlisted-vs-ncos/) - [Does Every Court-Martial Conviction Bring a Punitive Discharge?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/does-every-court-martial-conviction-bring-a-punitive-discharge/) - [Does Pleading Guilty at a Court-Martial Mean Confinement?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/does-pleading-guilty-at-a-court-martial-mean-confinement/) - [How Often Do Army Courts-Martial End in a Partial Acquittal?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-often-do-army-courts-martial-end-in-a-partial-acquittal/) - [How Often Do Contested Courts-Martial End in a Full Acquittal?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-often-do-contested-courts-martial-end-in-acquittal/) - [Judge Alone or Members: How Contested Army and Air Force Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/judge-alone-or-members-court-martial-outcomes/) - [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.