Fort Stewart in 2021: 18 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Fort Stewart tried 18 courts-martial in 2021. The median confinement was 2.1 years, compared with 6 months across the Army, and 11 of 17 convicted enlisted members received a dishonorable discharge. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 39% of cases, compared with 29% Army-wide.
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Trends › By Installation › Fort Stewart › 2021
Short answer: Fort Stewart tried 18 courts-martial in 2021. The median confinement was 2.1 years, compared with 6 months across the Army, and 11 of 17 convicted enlisted members received a dishonorable discharge. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 39% of cases, compared with 29% Army-wide.
Long Sentences, Including a Life Term
Of 17 convictions, 15 carried confinement. The median confinement was 2.1 years, longer than the 6 months across all Army cases in 2021. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 6 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
Mostly Dishonorable Discharges
A punitive discharge for an enlisted member is a bad-conduct or a dishonorable discharge. Of 17 convicted enlisted members, 14 received one: 3 bad-conduct and 11 dishonorable. The share, 82%, compares with 70% across the Army.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Sexual Offenses in the Charges
All 18 records list charges, and one case can appear under several articles. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 7 cases (39%), compared with 29% across the Army. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 5 cases (28%), compared with 21%.
Article 128 (assault) was charged less often than Army-wide, in 28% of cases compared with 38%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) and Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) each appeared in 3 cases (17%), compared with 8% and 3%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Army cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 39% | 29% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 28% | 21% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 5 | 28% | 38% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 17% | 8% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 3 | 17% | 3% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 17% | 9% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 11% | 16% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 2 | 11% | 3% |
Contested Cases and Panels
In 10 cases the accused pleaded guilty, and 8 contested at least one charge. The contested share, 44%, is higher than the 36% across the Army. Of the 10 guilty pleas, 5 are recorded with a plea agreement and 5 have no entry.
Of the 8 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal. A military judge alone decided 10 cases (56%), and enlisted panels heard the other 8. The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.
Rank and Court Level
By rank, the accused were 10 junior enlisted members and 8 NCOs, with no officers. That mix is similar to the Army as a whole.
General courts-martial made up 94% of the cases (17 of 18), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial is the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
Camp Humphreys and Fort Bliss
Camp Humphreys tried 23 cases in 2021 and Fort Bliss tried 30. Fort Stewart had the longest median confinement of the 3, 2.1 years, compared with 3 months and 7 months. It had the fewest full acquittals in contested cases: 1 of 8, compared with 7 of 12 and 3 of 10.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Stewart | 18 | 44% | 1 of 8 | 2.1 years | 82% |
| Camp Humphreys | 23 | 52% | 7 of 12 | 3 months | 5 of 9 |
| Fort Bliss | 30 | 33% | 3 of 10 | 7 months | 73% |
Limits of the Trial Records
The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records here are sparse before 2021. Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Fort Stewart with a trial date in 2021 (18 cases).
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 Stewart: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Stewart: 2022 (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Fort Stewart, 2020–2023? 69 Courts-Martial (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2024
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Humphreys: 2025
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2022
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2023
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Benning: 2025
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Stewart, 2021
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.