27 Orders Violation Courts-Martial at Fort Bragg, 2021–2023: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Fort Bragg › Article 92, 2021–2023

Based on 27 cases · 2021–2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

One Full Acquittal Among Contested Cases

Of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal (10%). In the Army as a whole, 26% of contested Article 92 cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.

Another 7 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: the accused was found not guilty of something but guilty of something else. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common in Army data. The result is still a conviction and a sentence on the remaining charges.

Article 92 Was Rarely the Only Charge

Article 92 covers failing to obey a lawful general order or regulation, failing to obey other lawful orders, and dereliction of duty. At Fort Bragg in these years, most cases charged it with other offenses.

Article 92 was the only charge in 2 of the 27 cases. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 10 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 7, Article 134 (general article) and Article 112a (drug) in 6 each, and Article 131b (obstruction) in 4.

This affects the sentence figures below. A court-martial sentence covers all the charges in a case. The records do not divide it by charge, so the confinement and discharge figures reflect assault, sexual assault, and drug charges as well as the orders violation.

How Much Confinement Followed a Conviction?

Of 26 convictions, 21 carried confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, shorter than the 4 months for all Army Article 92 cases in 2021–2023. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 6 months or longer.

Sentences under 6 months made up 54% of convictions, compared with 44% Army-wide. At the other end, 3 convictions (12%) carried 5 years or more, compared with 5% Army-wide. Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 4 of 26 convictions (15%), about the same as the 18% for Army-wide Article 92 cases. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

Contested cases made up 37% of those with a plea recorded: 10 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 17 guilty pleas. In the rest of the Army, the contested share was 36%, about the same.

Plea agreements are recorded for 13 of the 17 guilty pleas, and 4 have no entry. Army records say only whether an agreement existed, not what it said.

Panels in Most Contested Trials

A military judge alone decided 20 cases. Members decided 7: 6 with enlisted panels and 1 with an officer panel. Members heard 26% of the cases overall, compared with 18% across Army Article 92 cases, and 7 of the 10 contested cases (70%).

The accused usually chooses between a judge alone and a panel. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows how often cases were contested.

Discharges After Conviction

Of 24 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a punitive discharge: 11 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. Across the Army as a whole, the share for Article 92 convictions was 56%. The 2 convicted officers or warrant officers included 1 who was dismissed.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation afterward.

Rank and Court Level

The accused were 12 junior enlisted members, 13 NCOs, and 2 officers, so NCOs outnumbered junior enlisted members in these cases.

General courts-martial heard 23 cases and special courts-martial 4. The general share of 85% is higher than the 71% for all Army Article 92 cases in 2021–2023. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge; a special court-martial is capped at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Cases by Year

From March 2021 to December 2023, the data holds 27 cases: 10 in 2021, 13 in 2022, and 4 in 2023. Article 92 was charged in 21% of the 129 courts-martial at Fort Bragg in that span.

The count increased from 2021 to 2022 and then fell in 2023. The records cannot show what lay behind either change.

What the Data Leaves Out

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 records give trial dates rather than offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they exclude orders violations handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 92 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: 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.