Inside 37 Courts-Martial at Fort Benning, 2024–2026

Trends › By Installation › Fort Benning › 2024–2026

Based on 37 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Punitive Discharges Than in the Earlier Period

At Fort Benning, 18 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 15 bad-conduct and 3 dishonorable. That is 60% of enlisted convictions. In the Army as a whole, the rate was 73%, and at Fort Benning in 2021–2023 it was 77%. For an enlisted member, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge.

1 of the 3 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed. These records do not track administrative separations, and a sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule one out.

Pleas, Panels, and Acquittals

Of 35 records with a plea, 7 were contested and 28 were guilty pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. That 20% contested share compares with 21% across the Army. Every one of the 28 guilty pleas is recorded with a plea agreement, but Army records do not give agreement terms.

4 of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Enlisted panels heard 5 cases and a judge alone heard 29, so members heard 15% of cases, compared with 13% across the Army. The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members.

NCOs Were Most of the Accused

NCOs (E-5 to E-9) were 57% of the accused, junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 35%, and officers were 8%. Across the Army, junior enlisted members were 53% of the accused, so this group was more senior.

General courts-martial were 29 of the 37 cases (78%), compared with 69% across the Army. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Which Charges Were Brought?

Charges are listed in 35 of the 37 records, and one case can be counted under several articles. Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge at 26%, compared with 20% across the Army. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 14%, compared with 10%.

Some less common articles were charged more often here. Article 87a (resistance, flight, or breach of arrest) and Article 108 (loss or damage of military property) were each charged in 9% of cases, compared with 1% across the Army. Domestic violence under Article 128b was charged less often: 17% compared with 25%.

Every Case on the Most Common Charges Ended in Conviction

All 9 cases charging Article 128 and all 8 cases charging Article 134 (the general article) ended in a conviction on that article. The median confinement for each was 6 months. A case can include several articles, so these rows overlap.

Short Sentences and Fewer Long Ones

The median confinement was 5 months, shorter than the 6 months in the rest of the Army. A quarter of terms were 1 year or longer. Of 37 cases, 33 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Confinement was part of 30 of those sentences (91%).

Fewer sentences were longer than one year: 8 of 33 convictions (24%), compared with 30% across the Army. 1 sentence was 5 years or more (3%), compared with 9%. Each figure is an adjudged sentence. It covers every charge and is set before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal.

Then and Now

In 2021–2023, the 3 years with cases on record, Fort Benning had 50 cases, about 17 a year. Since then it has had about 15 a year, counting full years only. It tried 15 cases in 2024, 15 in 2025, and 7 in 2026, a partial year. Together they are 3% of the 1,252 Army courts-martial in the period.

The median confinement was 5 months in both periods. The contested share went from 18% to 20%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 0 of 9 to 4 of 7. Convictions with confinement went from 76% to 91%. The general court-martial share went from 61% to 78%. These groups are small, so the changes show direction, not precise measurements.

Compared With Camp Humphreys and Fort Leonard Wood

Camp Humphreys (36 cases) and Fort Leonard Wood (38 cases) tried a similar number of cases in the same years. Camp Humphreys had a higher contested share, 31%, and a median confinement of 6 months. Fort Leonard Wood had a contested share of 18%, close to Fort Benning, and a shorter median confinement of 2 months. The punitive discharge rate was 61% at Camp Humphreys and 52% at Fort Leonard Wood.

Rule Changes and Limits

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so these years include cases under both the old and new rules. The records cannot show whether the changes affected any figure here.

The records also do not include the evidence, plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.

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.