Fort McNair Courts-Martial, 2020–2023: What 21 Cases Show

Trends › By Installation › Fort McNair › 2020–2023

Based on 21 cases · 2020–2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Confinement Than the Army Median

Of 17 convictions at Fort McNair, 15 included confinement. The median was 1 year, longer than 6 months across all Army cases in those years. A quarter of those sentences were 2.5 years or longer.

Those figures are adjudged sentences, meaning what the court announced at trial. They come before any cap in a plea agreement, clemency, or appeal, and each one covers every charge in the case rather than a single offense.

Charges More Common Than Army-Wide

Of the 21 records, 18 list the charges. Article 134, the general article that covers conduct prejudicial to good order or service-discrediting, was charged in 7 of them (39%), compared with 22% Army-wide. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 5 (28%), compared with 15%.

Other articles were also charged more often than the Army rate. Article 107 (false official statements) was charged in 4 cases (22%), compared with 8% Army-wide. Article 128b (domestic violence) and Article 112a (drugs) were each charged in 4 cases (22%), compared with 13% and 11%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged less often: 2 cases here (11%), compared with 25% across the Army. Each article counts once per case, so a single case can appear under several rows.

Punitive Discharges

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. For officers it means dismissal. Of 15 enlisted members convicted here, 12 received one (80%), compared with 73% across all Army cases. Only 1 of those 12 was dishonorable.

There were 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.

Pleas and Plea Agreements

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least 1 charge. At Fort McNair, 15 accused pleaded guilty and 6 cases were contested. The contested share was 29%, compared with 35% across the Army in those years.

Of the 15 guilty pleas, 13 are recorded with a plea agreement and 2 have no entry. Army records show only whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Who Decided Guilt?

The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. A judge alone decided 17 cases, enlisted panels decided 3, and an officer panel decided 1. Members heard 19% of cases here, about the same as 21% across the Army. Judge-alone cases are mostly guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows the contested share.

Rank and Court Level

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 52% of the accused, lower than 57% Army-wide. NCOs were 33%, and officers or warrant officers 14%.

General courts-martial, which can impose any lawful sentence, heard 16 of the 21 cases (76%), compared with 75% in the rest of the Army. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge the multi-year terms that appear in the top quarter of sentences here.

Compared With Similar Installations

Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston tried 22 Army cases in the same years, and Fort Huachuca 23. Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston had a higher contested share (41%) and a lower median confinement (3 months). 92% of its enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge. Fort Huachuca had a contested share of 26%, a median of 6 months, and punitive discharges in 52% of enlisted convictions.

Fort McNair's 1-year median was higher than at either of the other 2 installations. Its 80% punitive discharge rate was lower than Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston's and higher than Fort Huachuca's.

The Years Covered

The cases run from October 2020 to November 2023: 3 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 3 in 2022, and 8 in 2023. Together they make up 1% of the 1,581 Army courts-martial in those years. Public trial records under Article 140a began in December 2020, so the Army data starts then. The 2020 count is small, and Army records in this data are more complete from 2021.

Limits of the Record

Trial records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the terms of plea deals, or conduct handled outside a court-martial, such as nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. They also give trial dates, not offense dates.

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.