24 Sexual Assault Courts-Martial at Fort Campbell, 2021–2023: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Fort Campbell › Article 120, 2021–2023

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

Full Acquittals in Most Contested Verdicts

Among 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal. That 54% full-acquittal rate is higher than the 42% seen in all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2023.

Another 5 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, in which the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals appear so often in Army data. A partial acquittal still leaves a conviction and a sentence on the remaining charges.

Fewer Cases Were Contested

Of the 24 accused, 11 pleaded guilty and 13 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 54% is lower than the 71% in the rest of the Army, so these cases ended in a guilty plea more often than Army-wide.

Plea agreements are recorded for 9 of the 11 guilty pleas, and 2 have no entry. Army records state whether an agreement existed but not its terms.

The lower contested share and the higher acquittal rate are separate findings. The records cannot show whether the cases that went to trial differed in strength from those resolved by a plea, so neither number explains the other.

Enlisted Panels in Contested Cases

Members heard 29% of the cases with the forum listed, all 7 of them with enlisted panels. No officer panel appears. A military judge alone decided the other 17. Among the 13 contested cases, members heard 7 (54%).

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the overall split follows how many cases were contested.

Sentences After a Conviction

In all, 17 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 12 of those sentences included confinement (71%). The median was 1.7 years, slightly shorter than the 1.8 years for all Army Article 120 cases in 2021–2023. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 2.5 years or longer.

Those are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case. Assault was charged in most of these cases, so a sentence may reflect more than the sexual assault charge.

Dishonorable Discharges Outnumbered Bad-Conduct Ones

Of convicted enlisted members, 71% received a punitive discharge: 8 dishonorable and 4 bad-conduct. In Army Article 120 cases overall, the share was 80%.

A dishonorable discharge is the most severe discharge available for an enlisted member and can come only from a general court-martial. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Assault Charged in Most Cases

Article 120 was the only charge in 4 of the 24 cases. Article 128 (assault) was also charged in 16, Article 134 (general article) in 7, Article 107 (false official statement) in 5, Article 93 (maltreatment) in 4, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 3.

An assault count filed with a sexual assault charge often describes part of the same incident. The records do not split a sentence charge by charge.

Rank of Those Charged

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 62% of the accused and NCOs 38%. No officers were charged under Article 120 at Fort Campbell in these years. The junior enlisted share was the same as the 62% in the rest of the Army.

With no officers in these cases, every discharge figure on this page concerns enlisted members, and no dismissals appear.

Caseload and Legal Setting

From January 2021 to June 2023, the data holds 24 cases: 9 in 2021, 9 in 2022, and 6 in 2023. Article 120 was charged in 26% of the 94 courts-martial at Fort Campbell in those years.

Article 120 is a covered offense, a category now handled by special trial counsel. 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.

Gaps in What Is Known

Trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or allegations handled outside a court-martial. They give trial dates rather than offense dates.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial

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.