Fort Drum and Fort Carson, 2024–2026: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
Fort Drum and Fort Carson each had 45 courts-martial from 2024–2026. The median confinement at Fort Drum was 11 months, against 4 months at Fort Carson, and Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged in 35% of Fort Drum cases, against 11% at Fort Carson.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Drum › vs. Fort Carson
Short answer: Fort Drum and Fort Carson each had 45 courts-martial from 2024–2026. The median confinement at Fort Drum was 11 months, against 4 months at Fort Carson, and Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged in 35% of Fort Drum cases, against 11% at Fort Carson.
Median Confinement of 11 Months
40 Fort Drum cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 35 of those sentences included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 11 months. At Fort Carson, the median was 4 months.
30% of Fort Drum convictions carried confinement under 6 months, against 54% at Fort Carson. Sentences of more than one year made up 32% of Fort Drum convictions (13 of 40), against 24% at Fort Carson. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year; a special court-martial is capped at one year.
These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Fort Carson |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 12% | 8% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 30% | 54% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 10 | 25% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 11 | 28% | 22% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 5% | 3% |
Domestic Violence and Child Sexual Abuse Charges
43 of the 45 Fort Drum cases list charges, and one case can fall under several articles.
Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common charge at Fort Drum, in 35% of cases, against 11% at Fort Carson. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 14% of Fort Drum cases and 0% of Fort Carson cases. Article 90 (willfully disobeying a superior officer) appeared in 12% against 2%.
Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 30% of Fort Drum cases and 20% of Fort Carson cases. Article 128 (assault) was less common at Fort Drum, at 9% against 22%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Fort Carson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 15 | 35% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 13 | 30% | 20% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 14% | 0% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 5 | 12% | 2% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 9% | 22% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 7% | 11% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 2 | 5% | 0% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 5% | 7% |
Few Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. At Fort Drum, 40 accused pleaded guilty and 5 contested. The contested share was 11%. At Fort Carson, it was 40%.
39 of the 40 Fort Drum guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said.
With so few contested cases, acquittal counts are small. 3 of 4 contested cases that reached a verdict at Fort Drum ended in a full acquittal, compared with 8 of 18 at Fort Carson.
Every Case on the Top 2 Charges Ended in a Conviction
All 15 cases charging Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 8 months. All 13 cases charging Article 134 also ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 1.5 years.
One case can include several charges, so a single sentence may reflect both articles.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 15 | 15 (100%) | 8 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 13 | 13 (100%) | 1.5 years |
Punitive Discharges in 95% of Enlisted Convictions
A punitive discharge followed 95% of enlisted convictions at Fort Drum: 28 bad-conduct discharges and 10 dishonorable discharges. At Fort Carson, the share was 78%.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Mostly General Courts-Martial
Fort Drum held 39 general courts-martial and 5 special courts-martial, with 1 case not listed. The general share was 89%, compared with 61% at Fort Carson. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
By rank, the accused were 32 junior enlisted members, 12 NCOs, and 1 officer. The sheet describes this group as similar to the accused at Fort Carson.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Drum | 45 | 11% | 3 of 4 | 11 months | 95% |
| Fort Carson | 45 | 40% | 8 of 18 | 4 months | 78% |
Most Cases Decided Without Members
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Fort Drum, members heard 9% of cases with the forum listed: 3 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. The other 41 were judge alone.
Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Years and Rule Changes
The Fort Drum records run from January 2024 through July 2026. By year: 2024: 10, 2025: 20, 2026: 15. The 2026 count is a partial year.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records do not give offense dates, so these years include cases under both the old and new rules.
Limits of This Data
Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial, such as nonjudicial punishment.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Drum (45) and Fort Carson (45) with trial dates in 2024–2026. Each figure for Fort Drum is set beside the same figure for Fort Carson.
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 Drum: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Fort Carson: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Camp Humphreys and Fort Riley, 2024–2026: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
- Comparing Fort Hood and Fort Campbell: Army Courts-Martial, 2024–2026
- Comparing Fort Leonard Wood and Fort Benning: Army Courts-Martial, 2024–2026
- Comparing Fort Polk and Fort Knox: Army Courts-Martial, 2020–2023
- Comparing Fort Riley and Fort Benning: Army Courts-Martial, 2020–2023
- Comparing Fort Sill and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson: Army Courts-Martial, 2020–2023
- Comparing Fort Stewart and Kaiserslautern (Europe): Army Courts-Martial, 2024–2026
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Drum, 2024–2026
- Trevor I. Barna
- Gregory B. Batdorff
- James A. Ewing
- Adam S. Kazin
- Joseph A. Morman
- Alan J. Nef
- Sean S. Park
- William C. Ramsey
- Carrie L. Ward
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.