34 Assault Courts-Martial at Fort Hood, 2021–2023: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Fort Hood › Article 128, 2021–2023

Based on 34 cases · 2021–2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Assault Cases Were Contested

Of the 34 accused, 21 contested at least one charge by pleading not guilty or entering a mixed plea, and 13 pleaded guilty. The contested share of 62% is higher than the 41% in Army Article 128 cases overall.

A contested case goes to trial, where the government must prove at least one charge before a judge or panel. At Fort Hood in these years, assault cases went to trial more often than Army-wide. The records cannot show why.

Plea agreements are recorded for 11 of the 13 guilty pleas, and 2 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed but not its contents.

Outcomes of Contested Trials

Of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict, 14% ended in a full acquittal, lower than the 28% across Army-wide Article 128 cases. Another 11 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, with the accused found not guilty of something but guilty of something else.

Because Army results list findings charge by charge, partial acquittals are common in Army data. A partial acquittal still leaves a conviction and a sentence on the remaining charges.

Longer Confinement Than Army-Wide

Of 31 convictions, 23 carried confinement. The median confinement was 10 months, longer than the 5 months for the Army as a whole. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 3.3 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, so a long term may reflect a sexual assault or attempt charge filed with the assault.

More Sentences at Both the Low and High End

Convictions with no confinement made up 26%, compared with 18% Army-wide. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 16%, compared with 10%. Sentences in between were less common: 32% were under 6 months, compared with 42%, and 10% were 6 months to 1 year, compared with 15%.

Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 10 of 31 convictions (32%), compared with 25% in Army-wide Article 128 cases. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Sexual Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge

Assault was the only charge in 9 of the 34 cases, compared with 112 of 455 Article 128 cases in the rest of the Army. The most common other charges were Article 120 (sexual assault) in 13 cases, Article 134 (general article) and Article 80 (attempt) in 6 each, and Article 115 (communicating threats) and Article 92 (orders violation) in 4 each.

An assault count next to a sexual assault or domestic violence charge often describes part of the same incident. Assault is not itself a covered offense, but a special trial counsel who takes a covered offense can also take a related assault.

Discharges

Of convicted enlisted members here, 83% received a punitive discharge: 17 bad-conduct and 8 dishonorable. The share in the Army as a whole was 70%. The single convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means either a bad-conduct discharge, which a special or general court-martial can impose, or a dishonorable discharge, which only a general court-martial can impose.

Judges, Panels, and Court Levels

A military judge alone decided 25 cases and enlisted panels decided 9, with no officer panels. Members heard 26% of cases, the same 26% as in Army Article 128 cases overall, and 9 of the 21 contested cases (43%). The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

There were 26 general and 8 special courts-martial, a general share of 76% compared with 81% Army-wide. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Who Was Charged, and When

By rank, the accused were 23 junior enlisted members, 10 NCOs, and 1 officer, a group more junior than all Army Article 128 cases in 2021–2023.

The records show 34 cases between January 2021 and December 2023: 10 in 2021, 14 in 2022, and 10 in 2023. Article 128 was charged in 24% of the 142 courts-martial at Fort Hood in those years.

Limits of the Records

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. Only cases that reached a courtroom appear. Assaults resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are absent. The records also do not describe the evidence or plea terms.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

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.