A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Bliss: 2023
Domestic violence was the most common charge at Fort Bliss in 2023. Article 128b was charged in 38% of its 29 courts-martial, compared with 21% in the rest of the Army. The median adjudged confinement was 4 months, shorter than the Army's 6 months.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Bliss › 2023
Short answer: Domestic violence was the most common charge at Fort Bliss in 2023. Article 128b was charged in 38% of its 29 courts-martial, compared with 21% in the rest of the Army. The median adjudged confinement was 4 months, shorter than the Army's 6 months. 4 of 8 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Domestic Violence Was the Most Common Charge
All 29 records list the charges, and an article is counted once per case. Domestic violence under Article 128b was charged in 11 cases, more than any other article. That 38% share compares with 21% across all Army cases.
Failure to obey an order or regulation under Article 92 was also more common: 21% compared with 11%. Some less common charges were also more frequent here: obstructing justice under Article 131b (14% compared with 3%), desertion under Article 85 (10% compared with 3%), and child endangerment under Article 119b (10% compared with 3%). Assault under Article 128 was about the same as the Army rate: 24% compared with 26%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Army docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 11 | 38% | 21% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 24% | 26% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 21% | 11% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 17% | 8% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 4 | 14% | 3% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 4 | 14% | 7% |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 3 | 10% | 3% |
| Art. 119b Child endangerment | 3 | 10% | 3% |
Shorter Terms Than in 2022
Of 25 convictions, 23 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 1 year at Fort Bliss in 2022 and 6 months across the Army. A quarter of sentences were 1 year or longer.
Terms under 6 months made up 60% of convictions, compared with 39% in the rest of the Army. Sentences longer than one year were part of 5 of 25 convictions (20%), compared with 28%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all the charges in its case. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Army |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 2 | 8% | 16% |
| Under 6 months | 15 | 60% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 12% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 16% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 8% |
Change From 2022
The number of cases fell from 37 in 2022 to 29 in 2023. The contested share fell from 35% to 28%. Full acquittals went from 3 of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict to 4 of 8.
Convictions with confinement went from 97% to 92%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 85% to 79%. General courts-martial rose from 70% of cases to 79%. In small groups a few cases can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise measurements.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 37 | 29 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 35% | 28% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 3 of 13 | 4 of 8 |
| Convictions with confinement | 97% | 92% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 85% | 79% |
| General courts-martial | 70% | 79% |
Every Guilty Plea Had an Agreement
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either fully or as a mixed plea. In 2023, 21 cases ended in guilty pleas and 8 were contested. The contested share was 28%, compared with 31% across all Army cases.
All 21 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records note whether an agreement existed but not what it contained. The terms, including any limit on confinement, are not in this data.
Who Decided Guilt
The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. A judge alone decided 23 of 29 cases with a recorded forum (79%). Panels of members heard 6: 5 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel.
Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so these figures generally follow the number of contested cases.
Rank and Court Level
The accused included 17 junior enlisted soldiers (E-1 to E-4), 9 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 3 officers or warrant officers. That mix was similar to the Army as a whole, where 56% of the accused were junior enlisted.
General courts-martial made up 23 of the 29 cases (79%), compared with 76% across the Army. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Punitive Discharges After Conviction
Of 24 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (79%), compared with 74% in the rest of the Army. Only 3 of those were dishonorable discharges. The rest were bad-conduct discharges.
The records include 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Compared With Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg
Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg tried a similar number of cases in 2023. Fort Campbell had the same 4-month median confinement. It had a lower contested share (19%) and a higher punitive discharge rate (91%), and 2 of 5 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Fort Bragg had a contested share of 33% and a median confinement of 7 months, and 2 of 11 contested cases ended in a full acquittal. Its punitive discharge rate of 86% was also higher than Fort Bliss.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Bliss | 29 | 28% | 4 of 8 | 4 months | 79% |
| Fort Campbell | 26 | 19% | 2 of 5 | 4 months | 91% |
| Fort Bragg | 33 | 33% | 2 of 11 | 7 months | 86% |
What These Records Leave Out
Only cases that went to a court-martial appear here. Misconduct handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action is not included. The records do not describe the evidence, the plea terms, or when the offenses took place.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Bliss with a trial date in 2023 (29 cases).
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
- Fort Bliss: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Fort Bliss in 2022: 37 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Bliss: 2024 (previous / next)
- Fort Bliss, 2020–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 102 Cases (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2024
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2025
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2022
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2023
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Bliss, 2023
- Jessica Conn
- Joseph R. Distaso
- Jacqueline L. Emanuel
- Michael C. Friess
- Scott Z. Hughes
- Dasean A. Jones
- Adam S. Kazin
- Maureen A. Kohn
- Michael E. Korte
- Robert E. Murdough
- Scott A. Oravec
- Javier E. Rivera Rosario
- Robert L. Shuck
- Clay M. West
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.