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# A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Drum: 2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-drum-courts-martial-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-30T08:12:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:12:43.000Z
- Description: Fort Drum tried 20 courts-martial in 2025. Of 16 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a punitive discharge (94%), compared with 73% across the Army. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 134 (general article) were each charged in 39% of cases.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Fort Drum, Army

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Fort Drum](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-fort-drum/) › 2025

**Short answer:** Fort Drum tried 20 courts-martial in 2025\. Of 16 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a punitive discharge (94%), compared with 73% across the Army. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 134 (general article) were each charged in 39% of cases.

Based on 20 cases · 2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Domestic Violence and the General Article

Of the 20 cases, 18 have records that list charges, and one case can count under several articles. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 7 of those cases (39%), compared with 26% across all Army cases in 2025\. Article 134 (general article) also appeared in 7 cases (39%), compared with 22%.

Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) was charged in 3 cases (17%), compared with 8% Army-wide. Article 90 (willfully disobeying superior officer) and Article 80 (attempts) each appeared in 2 cases (11%).

| UCMJ Article                                                                                                                                  | Cases | Share here | Share, all Army cases in those years |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ |
| [Art. 128b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-128b-domestic-violence/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Domestic violence                        | 7     | 39%        | 26%                                  |
| [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article                      | 7     | 39%        | 22%                                  |
| [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3     | 17%        | 8%                                   |
| [Art. 90](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Willfully disobeying superior officer  | 2     | 11%        | 6%                                   |
| [Art. 80](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-80/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Attempts                               | 2     | 11%        | 7%                                   |
| Art. 130 Stalking                                                                                                                             | 1     | 6%         | 0%                                   |
| [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements            | 1     | 6%         | 6%                                   |
| [Art. 86](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com) AWOL                                   | 1     | 6%         | 3%                                   |

## Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge for an enlisted member is either a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Of 16 convicted enlisted members, 15 received one: 11 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. The share, 94%, is higher than the 73% across the Army.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.

## Confinement

Of the 20 cases, 16 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 14 of those sentences included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 5 months, shorter than the 8 months across the Army. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 1.3 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

## Pleas and Verdicts

In 17 cases the accused pleaded guilty, and 3 were contested. A contested case has a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share, 15%, is lower than the 20% in the rest of the Army.

Of the 17 guilty pleas, 16 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records state whether an agreement existed, not what it said. Both contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (2 of 2).

## Who Was Charged and Who Decided

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 65% of the accused and NCOs 35%, with no officers. Across the Army, junior enlisted members were 50% of the accused.

General courts-martial made up 84% of the 19 cases with a court level listed (16 of 19), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

A military judge alone decided 18 cases, and enlisted panels heard 2\. Members heard 10% of cases, compared with 15% across the Army.

## Fort Stewart and Vilseck

Fort Stewart also tried 20 cases in 2025, and Vilseck (Europe) tried 25\. Fort Drum had the shortest median confinement of the 3, 5 months, compared with 6 months and 10 months. Its enlisted punitive discharge share, 94%, was lower than the 100% at Fort Stewart and higher than the 87% at Vilseck.

| Installation     | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
| ---------------- | ----- | --------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------- |
| Fort Drum        | 20    | 15%       | 2 of 2                              | 5 months           | 94%                           |
| Fort Stewart     | 20    | 5%        | 0 of 1                              | 6 months           | 100%                          |
| Vilseck (Europe) | 25    | 32%       | 2 of 8                              | 10 months          | 87%                           |

## Rule Changes and Missing Details

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so 2025 trials can include cases under either set of rules.

Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in these records. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Every court-martial tried at Fort Drum with a trial date in 2025 (20 cases).

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Fort Drum: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-fort-drum/) (hub)
- [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Drum: 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-drum-courts-martial-2023/) (previous / next)
- [What Was Tried at Fort Drum, 2024–2026? 45 Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-drum-courts-martial-2024-2026/) (the whole period)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2024](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-humphreys-courts-martial-2024/)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/camp-humphreys-courts-martial-2025/)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-benning-courts-martial-2022/)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-benning-courts-martial-2023/)
- [A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-benning-courts-martial-2025/)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

← Previous: [A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Drum: 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/fort-drum-courts-martial-2023/)

## Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Drum, 2025

- [Trevor I. Barna](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-trevor-i-barna/)
- [James A. Ewing](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-james-a-ewing/)
- [Alan J. Nef](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-alan-j-nef/)
- [Sean S. Park](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-sean-s-park/)
- [William C. Ramsey](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-william-c-ramsey/)

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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judges/) 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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.