How Did Contested Army Courts-Martial End in 2021?

Trends › By Year › Army 2021, contested

Based on 190 cases · 2021 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Confinement Was Longer Than in Later Years

123 of the 190 contested cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 70% of those convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 2.2 years. For contested Army cases across 2021–2025, the median was 1.5 years.

The longest terms were also long. A quarter of the confinement sentences in 2021 were 4.3 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence. These are adjudged sentences, meaning the sentence imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge of which the accused was convicted.

Sexual Assault and Assault Charges Were More Common

The charge lists cover 189 of the 190 cases. Each article is counted once per case, so a case that charges both assault and sexual assault appears under both.

Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 115 cases (61%), compared with 49% for contested Army cases in 2021–2025. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 88 cases (47%), against 34%. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was also charged more often: 21% compared with 14%.

Domestic violence charges were less common. Article 128b appeared in 3% of 2021 cases, compared with 17% across the full period.

Verdicts: Full and Partial Acquittals

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty or enters a mixed plea. All 190 cases here reached a verdict. 67 ended with the accused acquitted of all charges (35%). Another 75 ended in a partial acquittal (39%), meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.

Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals show up often in Army records. The 35% full-acquittal rate is close to the 38% for contested Army cases in 2021–2025.

Conviction Rates for the Top Charges

The table below shows how often a case charging each of the top articles ended in a conviction on that article. Article 92 had the highest rate: 25 of 39 cases (64%). Article 120 had the lowest: 53 of 115 cases (46%). Article 128 ended in a conviction in 46 of 88 cases (52%), and Article 134 (the general article) in 22 of 39 (56%).

The median confinement after a conviction on Article 120 was 2.7 years, the same as after a conviction on Article 128. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.

Members Panels and Judge-Alone Trials

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Among the 188 decided contested cases with the forum listed, members heard 112 (60%): 97 enlisted panels and 15 officer panels. A military judge alone heard the other 76.

Full acquittals were more common before members. 49 of 112 contested members cases ended in a full acquittal (44%), compared with 16 of 76 contested judge-alone cases (21%).

Punitive Discharges After Conviction

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. Among 109 enlisted members convicted in 2021, 65 received a punitive discharge (60%), slightly less often than the 64% for contested Army cases in 2021–2025. 50 of the 65 were dishonorable discharges.

14 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in the 2021 records, and 9 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Sentence Bands and Court Levels

54 of the 123 convictions carried more than one year of confinement (44%), the same share as for contested Army cases in 2021–2025. 37 convictions brought no confinement (30%), compared with 25% for the full period. 20 brought 5 years or more (16%).

Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. A special court-martial is capped at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. In 2021, 156 of the 189 cases with a court level listed were general courts-martial (83%, against 85% for 2021–2025), and 78% of their convictions included confinement, with a median of 2.5 years. 33 cases were special courts-martial; 32% of those convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 months. The court level is not listed for 1 case.

Who Was Tried, and Where

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 50% of the accused, NCOs 41%, and officers 8%. Across contested Army cases in 2021–2025, junior enlisted members were 44%.

Fort Hood had the most contested cases (26), followed by Fort Bragg (20), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (19), Wheeler Army Airfield (13), and Fort Drum (13). Together these five account for 48% of the 190 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at a base.

Limits of the 2021 Records

The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021. The comparison period here begins with 2021.

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, offense dates, or conduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.