Fort Hood in 2021: 45 Courts-Martial, Year in Review

Trends › By Installation › Fort Hood › 2021

Based on 45 cases · 2021 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Article 120 in 56% of Cases

Charges are listed for all 45 cases, and one case can count under several articles. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 25 of them. That 56% share was higher than the 29% across the Army.

Some other common charges were less frequent here. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 22% of cases, compared with 38%. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 16%, compared with 21%. Article 92 (orders violations) was more common, at 20% compared with 16%, and so was Article 107 (false official statements), at 16% compared with 12%.

Most Cases Were Contested

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, whether fully or through a mixed plea. At Fort Hood, 26 cases were contested and 19 ended in guilty pleas, a contested share of 58%. Across the Army, it was 36%.

Guilty pleas were uncommon across the top charges. Only 16% of cases charging Article 120 ended in one (4 of 25), and 20% of those charging Article 128 (2 of 10). Of the 19 guilty pleas overall, 15 are recorded with a plea agreement and 4 have no entry. Army records show whether an agreement existed, not what it said. They do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.

How Contested Cases Ended

Of 26 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (27%), lower than the 35% in all Army cases that year. Another 9 ended in a partial acquittal (35%), meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 13 of the 26 contested cases (50%). Full acquittals were 5 of 13 contested cases decided by members (38%) and 2 of 13 contested judge-alone cases (15%). The records cannot show the reasons for that difference.

Across all 45 cases, a judge alone heard 32, enlisted panels 12, and an officer panel 1. Members heard 29% of cases, compared with 22% Army-wide.

Longer Sentences Than Army-Wide

Of 38 convictions, 32 included confinement (84%). The median was 1.1 years. A quarter of sentences were 3.2 years or longer, and 1 sentence was life.

Sentences above one year were imposed in 16 of 38 convictions (42%), compared with 26% across the Army. Sentences of more than 1 year but under 5 years made up 34% of convictions, compared with 18%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year.

Convictions by Charge

Article 120 charges ended in a conviction on that article in 17 of 25 cases (68%), with a median confinement of 2.3 years. Article 128 (assault) charges ended in a conviction on that article in 7 of 10 (70%), with a median of 9 months.

Article 92 (orders violations) had the lowest rate among the top charges, 5 of 9. Those convictions carried a median of 1.8 years. Each median covers the whole sentence in a case, not one article. A single case can include a conviction and an acquittal, so these rows overlap.

Discharges, Many of Them Dishonorable

Of convicted enlisted members, 86% received a punitive discharge, compared with 70% Army-wide. Of those discharges, 16 were bad-conduct and 15 were dishonorable. A dishonorable discharge is the more severe form, and only a general court-martial can adjudge it.

Both convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.

Who Was Tried, and at Which Level

The accused were 29 junior enlisted soldiers, 14 NCOs, and 2 officers, a more junior group than across the Army. General courts-martial made up 80% of cases (36 of 45). A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell

Fort Bragg also tried 45 cases. Its contested share was 44%, with 2 full acquittals in 20 contested cases that reached a verdict, a median confinement of 6 months, and a 69% enlisted punitive discharge share. Fort Campbell tried 41 cases. Its contested share was 22%, with 4 full acquittals in 9, a median of 3 months, and a 78% punitive discharge share. Fort Hood had the highest contested share, the longest median, and the highest punitive discharge share of these installations.

Limits of the Record

Army records in this data are sparse before 2021, after the Article 140a requirement to publish trial records took effect by December 2020. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence, plea terms, or cases handled outside a court-martial.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.