What Fort Stewart Tried in 2023
Fort Stewart tried 24 courts-martial in 2023. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 11 months at the same installation in 2022 and 6 months across the Army in 2023. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 22% of cases, compared with 8% across the Army.
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Trends › By Installation › Fort Stewart › 2023
Short answer: Fort Stewart tried 24 courts-martial in 2023. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 11 months at the same installation in 2022 and 6 months across the Army in 2023. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) was charged in 22% of cases, compared with 8% across the Army.
Shorter Confinement Than in 2022
Fort Stewart had 22 cases in 2022 and 24 in 2023. The median confinement went from 11 months to 4 months. The share of convictions that included confinement went from 75% to 78%.
The contested share went from 59% to 38%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 80% to 71%. The general court-martial share went from 82% to 83%. In groups this small, a few cases can move each figure, so these changes show direction rather than precise rates.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 22 | 24 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 59% | 38% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 6 of 13 | 6 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 75% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 11 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 80% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 82% | 83% |
Sentences in 2023
Of 18 convictions, 14 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, lower than the 6 months for all Army cases in 2023. Among sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 1.9 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial. They come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Charges Against Children and Assault
Charge shares use the 23 cases whose records list charges, and one case can be counted under several articles. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 9 cases (39%), compared with 26% across the Army. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 5 cases (22%), compared with 8%.
Article 115 (communicating threats) appeared in 17% of cases, compared with 3% across the Army. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 13%, compared with 4%. Domestic violence under Article 128b, Article 120 (rape and sexual assault), and Article 134 (the general article) each appeared in 26%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Army |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 39% | 26% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 6 | 26% | 21% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 26% | 24% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 26% | 21% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 5 | 22% | 8% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 4 | 17% | 3% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 13% | 4% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 13% | 8% |
Pleas and Plea Agreements
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. In 2023, 9 accused contested and 15 pleaded guilty. The contested share was 38%, compared with 31% across the Army.
Of the 15 guilty pleas, 14 are recorded with a plea agreement and 1 has no entry. Army records note whether an agreement existed but not what it said.
Verdicts in Contested Cases
All 9 contested cases reached a verdict, and 6 of them ended in a full acquittal, with the accused found not guilty of every charge. In 2022, 6 of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members, and a dismissal for officers. In 2023, 71% of convicted enlisted members received one: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. Across the Army, the share was 74%.
The records include 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Who Was Charged and at What Level
Of the 24 accused, 17 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 6 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That mix is more junior than across the Army, where 56% were junior enlisted.
General courts-martial, which can impose any lawful sentence including a dishonorable discharge, made up 20 cases (83%), compared with 76% across the Army. The other 4 were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year.
Members Panels
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 20 of the 24 cases (83%). Members heard 4 cases, all with enlisted panels, and no case went to an officer panel.
Fort Stewart, Wheeler Army Airfield, and Fort Polk
Wheeler Army Airfield (24 cases) and Fort Polk (23 cases) tried a similar number of Army cases in 2023. Fort Stewart had the lowest median confinement of these installations, at 4 months, compared with 8 months at Wheeler Army Airfield and 1.4 years at Fort Polk.
Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 71% at Fort Stewart, 84% at Wheeler Army Airfield, and 100% at Fort Polk. The contested share was 50% at Wheeler Army Airfield and 35% at Fort Polk.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Stewart | 24 | 38% | 6 of 9 | 4 months | 71% |
| Wheeler Army Airfield | 24 | 50% | 5 of 12 | 8 months | 84% |
| Fort Polk | 23 | 35% | 6 of 8 | 1.4 years | 100% |
Limits of the Records
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
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 2023 (24 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)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Fort Stewart: 2024 (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
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Stewart, 2023
- Alyssa S. Adams
- James Barkei
- John H. Cook
- Albert G. Courie III
- Amy S. Fitzgibbons
- Jerrod B. Fussnecker
- Tyler J. Heimann
- Benjamin W. Hillner
- Joseph T. Marcee
- Stephan E. Nolten
- William C. Ramsey
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.