Fort Bragg, 2020–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look

Trends › By Installation › Fort Bragg › Before and after 2024

Based on 85 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Contested Cases, More Full Acquittals Among Them

This page sets Fort Bragg's courts-martial from 2024–2026 beside its 2020–2023 cases. The largest change is in contested cases, in which the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. Those made up 40% of cases with a plea recorded in 2020–2023 and 25% since 2024.

A smaller share of cases was contested. A larger share of the contested cases ended in a full acquittal: 10 of 21 contested cases that reached a verdict since 2024, compared with 11 of 50 before. The recent rate of 48% is higher than the 40% seen across the Army as a whole. Another 10 recent contested cases (48%) ended in a partial acquittal, meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. These groups are small, and a few cases either way would change the percentages.

The Pace of Cases Since 2024

The records show 34 cases in 2024, 29 in 2025, and 22 so far in 2026, a partial year. Counting full years only, that works out to about 32 a year, compared with about 36 a year in 2020–2023.

The comparison table also shows a drop in the general court-martial share, from 83% to 70%. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Were Charged More Often

Of the 85 recent cases, 83 list the charges. Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common, charged in 34% of cases, compared with 25% across the Army in 2024–2026. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 20%, compared with 11% Army-wide.

Other frequent charges included Article 134 (the general article), Article 128 (assault), Article 80 (attempts), Article 115 (communicating threats), Article 121 (larceny), and Article 133 (conduct unbecoming an officer). Each article counts once per case, so a case charging several articles appears in several rows.

Charged Versus Convicted, Article by Article

Being charged with an article and being convicted of it are different things. Among the top charges since 2024, Article 128b most often ended in a conviction on that article (24 of 28), while Article 120 did so least often (6 of 17).

Guilty pleas followed the same pattern. Cases charging Article 128b ended in a guilty plea 71% of the time (20 of 28), the most among the top charges; cases charging Article 120 did so 18% of the time (3 of 17). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.

Sentences Since 2024

Of the recent cases, 73 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 61 of those sentences included confinement (84%). The median was 8 months, longer than the 6 months median Army-wide. A quarter were 2.3 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Sentences longer than one year were about as common as across the Army: 23 of 73 convictions (32%), compared with 30%. The median confinement was 1.3 years at general courts-martial (59 cases) and 2 months at special courts-martial (25 cases). Contested shares were 34% at the general level and 0% at the special level.

Discharges, Dismissals, and Pleas

Among 65 enlisted members convicted since 2024, 48 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (74%), about the same as across the Army (73%). Of those discharges, 11 were dishonorable. In 2020–2023, the share was 78%. The records also show 8 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 6 were dismissed.

Of the recent cases, 64 accused pleaded guilty, 61 of those pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 3 have no entry. Army records note whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Compared With Similar Installations

Fort Bliss (84 cases) and Fort Campbell (87) tried a similar number of Army cases in the same years. Fort Bragg had the highest contested share of the group, at 25%, compared with 12% at Fort Bliss and 14% at Fort Campbell. Its median confinement of 8 months was between Fort Bliss at 6 months and Fort Campbell at 1 year.

Panels and Rank

A military judge alone decided guilt in 69 of 81 cases with the forum listed (85%). Members heard 12: 9 enlisted panels and 3 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 12 of 17 (71%). The accused usually chooses the forum.

By rank, the recent group held 36 junior enlisted members, 38 NCOs, and 11 officers, a more senior group than the Army as a whole.

New Rules, Unknown Offense Dates

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault and domestic violence. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The 2024 dividing line in this comparison falls in the same period. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which cases fell under the new rules or whether the rules caused any change. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and plea terms are also outside these records.

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.