What Fort Bragg Tried in 2022
Fort Bragg tried 51 courts-martial in 2022, and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 16% of them, compared with 8% in the rest of the Army. Of the 19 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (37%), close to the Army's 38%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Bragg › 2022
Short answer: Fort Bragg tried 51 courts-martial in 2022, and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 16% of them, compared with 8% in the rest of the Army. Of the 19 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (37%), close to the Army's 38%. Of convicted enlisted members, 80% received a punitive discharge.
Child Sexual Abuse and Orders Violations
Charges are listed for all 51 cases, and one case can count under several articles. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 8 cases, or 16%, compared with 8% across all Army cases that year. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 25%, compared with 18%.
Domestic violence under Article 128b and drug offenses under Article 112a were each charged in 20% of cases, compared with 13% Army-wide. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 12%, compared with 7%. Article 120 (sexual assault) was the most common charge, in 27% of cases, about the same as the 26% across the Army.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Army cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 14 | 27% | 26% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 13 | 25% | 18% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 24% | 27% |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 22% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 10 | 20% | 13% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 20% | 13% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 8 | 16% | 8% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 6 | 12% | 7% |
More Full Acquittals Than in 2021
In 2021, only 2 of 20 contested cases that reached a verdict at Fort Bragg ended in a full acquittal. In 2022, 7 of 19 did, a rate of 37%, close to the 38% across the Army. Another 7 cases ended in partial acquittals, where the accused was found not guilty of something and guilty of something else.
Other figures changed as well. The contested share fell from 44% to 37%. The share of convictions with confinement increased from 77% to 89%. The enlisted punitive discharge share increased from 69% to 80%. The median confinement was 6 months in both years. These groups are small, and a few cases can change the percentages.
| 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 45 | 51 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 44% | 37% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 20 | 7 of 19 |
| Convictions with confinement | 77% | 89% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 69% | 80% |
| General courts-martial | 78% | 86% |
Long Sentences in Sexual Assault Convictions
Of 14 cases charging Article 120, 10 ended with a conviction on that article (71%). Those convictions carried a median confinement of 4.4 years, longer than for any other top charge. Only 36% of Article 120 cases ended in a guilty plea (5 of 14).
Article 92 (orders violation) cases ended in a conviction on that article in 12 of 13, with a median of 4 months. Of those 13 cases, 11 ended in a guilty plea (85%). Assault had the lowest conviction rate among the top charges, 7 of 12 (58%), with a median of 6 months. Article 134 had 10 of 11 with a median of 6 months. These rows overlap because a single case can bring a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 14 | 10 (71%) | 4.4 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 13 | 12 (92%) | 4 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 12 | 7 (58%) | 6 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 11 | 10 (91%) | 6 months |
How Long Were the Sentences?
A total of 44 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 39 included confinement (89%). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as across the Army. A quarter of sentences were 2.8 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 14 of 44 convictions (32%), compared with 27% in all Army cases. Sentences of 5 years or more were 14% of convictions, compared with 7%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they reflect every charge in the case. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 11% | 16% |
| Under 6 months | 16 | 36% | 41% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 20% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 18% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 6 | 14% | 7% |
Mostly General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 86% of the cases (44 of 51). This level 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.
By rank, the accused included 28 junior enlisted soldiers, 19 NCOs, and 4 officers, a mix similar to all Army cases that year.
Pleas, Agreements, and Forum
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Here, 19 cases were contested and 32 ended in guilty pleas (37% contested), about the same as the Army's 36%. Of the guilty pleas, 27 are recorded with a plea agreement and 5 have no entry. Army records note only whether an agreement existed.
The accused usually picks a military judge alone or a panel of members to decide guilt. Members heard 24% of cases with the forum listed, 10 on enlisted panels and 2 on officer panels, while 38 were judge alone. Among contested cases, members heard 12 of 18 (67%).
Who Received a Punitive Discharge
Of 40 convicted enlisted members, 32 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (80%), higher than the 76% across the Army. Of those, 13 were dishonorable. Among 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, 3 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation.
Fort Hood and Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Fort Hood tried 53 cases, and 40% were contested. It recorded 9 full acquittals in 21 contested cases that reached a verdict, a median confinement of 3 months, and an 85% enlisted punitive discharge share. Joint Base Lewis-McChord tried 47 cases, and 30% were contested. It recorded 7 full acquittals in 14, a median of 6 months, and an 80% punitive discharge share. Fort Bragg had the same median and the same punitive discharge share as Lewis-McChord.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Bragg | 51 | 37% | 7 of 19 | 6 months | 80% |
| Fort Hood | 53 | 40% | 9 of 21 | 3 months | 85% |
| Joint Base Lewis-McChord | 47 | 30% | 7 of 14 | 6 months | 80% |
Missing From the Records
The data lists when a trial took place but not when the offense did. It does not describe evidence or plea terms, and it leaves out cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Bragg with a trial date in 2022 (51 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 Bragg: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Fort Bragg in 2021: 45 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- What Fort Bragg Tried in 2023 (previous / next)
- Fort Bragg Courts-Martial, 2020–2023: What 143 Cases Show (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
- S1 H6: Shady Sh*t Going Down at Fort Liberty (podcast, members)
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Bragg, 2022
- Alyssa S. Adams
- Trevor I. Barna
- Gregory B. Batdorff
- John H. Cook
- Amy S. Fitzgibbons
- Tyler J. Heimann
- Stephan E. Nolten
- Robert W. Rideout Jr.
- Travis Rogers
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.