Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial
The Army records show 59 convictions for aggravated assault under Article 128 with trial dates from 2021 to 2025. The median confinement was 8 months, and 90% of the convictions included confinement. In federal court, 4,493 people were sentenced under guideline §2A2.2 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, a
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In brief: The Army records show 59 convictions for aggravated assault under Article 128 with trial dates from 2021 to 2025. The median confinement was 8 months, and 90% of the convictions included confinement. In federal court, 4,493 people were sentenced under guideline §2A2.2 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and the median prison term was 40 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 4,493 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
What Did Army Courts-Martial Sentence for Aggravated Assault?
Of the 59 Army convictions, 53 had a sentence recorded that included confinement. That is 90%. The median adjudged confinement was 8 months, and a quarter of the sentences were 24 months or more.
Army records in this data begin in 2020 and 2021, so the Army count covers 2021 to 2025. The federal count covers a longer period, fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
| Army courts-martial | Federal court, FY2016–FY2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Convictions or people sentenced | 59 | 4,493 |
| Sentenced to confinement or prison | 90% | 97% |
| Median confinement or prison | 8 months | 40 months |
| A quarter received this or more | 24 months | 63 months |
| Pleaded guilty | 41 of 59 with a plea recorded (69%) | 93% |
| Mandatory minimum applied | See the caveats | 6% |
Punitive Discharges and the Level of Court
Of the 57 enlisted members convicted, 41 received a punitive discharge, or 72%. That total is made up of 12 dishonorable discharges and 29 bad-conduct discharges.
The records list 2 officers among the convicted, and neither was dismissed from the service. Of the 59 convictions, 47 (80%) were at a general court-martial.
Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases in the Army
All 59 convictions have a plea recorded. Of those, 41 (69%) were guilty pleas.
The median confinement after a guilty plea was 7.9 months, based on 38 cases with confinement. In contested cases that ended in a conviction, the median confinement was 12 months, based on 15 cases.
Those groups are small. A change of a few cases would move the medians, so they are best read as a rough comparison.
How Federal Sentences for the Same Guideline Compare
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 4,340 of the 4,493 people sentenced (97%) as receiving a prison term. Another 120 (3%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 40 months, which is 3.3 years. A quarter received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. These federal terms are higher than the Army figures above.
Federal guilty pleas were more common than Army pleas: 93% compared with 69%. Of the federal group, 293 were convicted after a trial. After a guilty plea the median prison term was 37 months. After a trial it was 78 months.
Rules That Only Apply in Federal Court
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 264 federal defendants (6%). Court-martial records do not have a matching field.
The Commission also reports how each sentence related to the guideline range. Of 4,490 people with that information, 44% were sentenced within the range. About 22% were below it at the government's request, 23% were below it without that request, and 11% were above it.
Supervised release followed prison for 4,177 people (93%), with a median term of 36 months. Restitution was ordered for 25%. About 41% were in the lowest criminal history category. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Comparing the Services
The table below places the Army beside the other services for the same offense and period. The Army median confinement of 8 months is the lowest in the table. The Army guilty plea share, 69%, is higher than the Navy share of 55% and the Air Force share of 50%, but lower than the Marine Corps share of 74%.
The service counts are small. The Navy count, for example, is 29 convictions, and the Army median rests on 59.
| Service | Convictions, 2016–2025 | With confinement | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | Guilty pleas (where recorded) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 59 | 90% | 8 months | 72% | 69% |
| Air Force | 81 | 95% | 13.8 months | 80% | 50% |
| Navy | 29 | 79% | 12 months | 61% | 55% |
| Marine Corps | 45 | 93% | 9 months | 82% | 74% |
What These Records Cannot Show
Court-martial sentences are the sentences adjudged at trial, before any clemency or appeal. Federal prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
These groups are not matched by facts of the case, such as injury, weapon, or criminal history. The records cannot show whether the same conduct would be charged or sentenced the same way in the other system.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with trial dates in 2016 to 2025 ending in a conviction for aggravated assault (Article 128) (59). Federal: 4,493 people sentenced under guideline §2A2.2 (aggravated assault), fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (U.S. Sentencing Commission).
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Different cases reach each system. Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Offense categories do not line up exactly. Each comparison uses a federal offense group chosen to match the military article as closely as possible (see the crosswalk). Some matches are close; others are partial. The post says which federal guideline or statute was used and why it is not an exact match.
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Military confinement credit and parole. For military sentences adjudged after 2004, good conduct time is 5 days for each month of confinement, about 16%. Military prisoners can also earn up to 8 more days a month for work and programs and up to 2 days a month for special acts, with a limit of 15 days a month in total. Military prisoners can be considered for parole by their service's clemency and parole board. The military numbers in this post are the confinement adjudged at trial, not the time served.
Military sentences include punishments federal sentences do not. A court-martial sentence can include a punitive discharge (bad-conduct discharge, dishonorable discharge, or dismissal for officers), reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay. These have no federal counterpart. A comparison of months of confinement leaves them out. A short confinement term combined with a dishonorable discharge is a heavier sentence than the months alone show.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 (overview)
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Navy Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
- Aggravated Assault Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Aggravated Assault Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Army Courts-Martial
- Aggravated Assault Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 128 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 128 Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Assault (court-martial data)
- Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 128 UCMJ: Assault, Aggravated Assault, and Strangulation (law firm reference page)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
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.