Comparing Fort Stewart and Kaiserslautern (Europe): Army Courts-Martial, 2024–2026
From 2024–2026, the records hold 46 courts-martial at Fort Stewart and 45 at Kaiserslautern (Europe).
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Fort Stewart › vs. Kaiserslautern (Europe)
Short answer: From 2024–2026, the records hold 46 courts-martial at Fort Stewart and 45 at Kaiserslautern (Europe). 91% of convicted enlisted members at Fort Stewart received a punitive discharge, against 79% at Kaiserslautern, and Article 121 (larceny) was charged in 13% of Fort Stewart cases, against 0% at Kaiserslautern.
Guilty Pleas in Most Fort Stewart Cases
Fort Stewart had 42 guilty pleas and 4 not-guilty or mixed pleas. That makes 9% of cases contested, compared with 20% at Kaiserslautern. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.
41 of the 42 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said.
Of the few contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 of 4 at Fort Stewart ended in a full acquittal, compared with 4 of 9 at Kaiserslautern.
Punitive Discharges in 91% of Enlisted Convictions
Among 43 enlisted members convicted at Fort Stewart, 39 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (91%). At Kaiserslautern, the share was 79%. 11 of the Fort Stewart discharges were dishonorable.
1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in the Fort Stewart records, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Larceny and Conspiracy Charges
45 of the 46 Fort Stewart records list the charges. Each article counts once per case.
Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 13% of Fort Stewart cases and none of the Kaiserslautern cases. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 11%, against 0%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 13%, against 7%.
Article 128b (domestic violence) was the most common charge at Fort Stewart, in 31% of cases, against 27% at Kaiserslautern. Article 128 (assault) and Article 134 (the general article) were less common at Fort Stewart: 16% against 24%, and 20% against 27%. Article 112a (drug offenses) appeared in 9% of Fort Stewart cases and 4% of Kaiserslautern cases, while Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 7% and 11%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Kaiserslautern (Europe) cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 14 | 31% | 27% |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 20% | 27% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 16% | 24% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 6 | 13% | 0% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 13% | 7% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 5 | 11% | 0% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 9% | 4% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 7% | 11% |
How Much Confinement
Fort Stewart had 44 convictions, and 40 carried confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, about the same as the 5 months at Kaiserslautern. 1 Fort Stewart sentence was life.
Sentences of more than one year came less often at Fort Stewart: 12 of 44 convictions (27%), against 32% at Kaiserslautern. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 20% of Fort Stewart convictions and 10% of Kaiserslautern convictions. 9% of Fort Stewart convictions carried no confinement, against 2% at Kaiserslautern.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Kaiserslautern (Europe) cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 9% | 2% |
| Under 6 months | 19 | 43% | 56% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 20% | 10% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 18% | 24% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 9% | 7% |
Every Case on the Top 2 Charges Ended in a Conviction
All 14 cases charging Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 7 months. All 9 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 6 months.
A case can include both articles, so the rows can overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 14 | 14 (100%) | 7 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 6 months |
Court Level
Fort Stewart held 35 general courts-martial and 11 special courts-martial. The general share was 76%, against 62% at Kaiserslautern. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence; a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
General courts-martial at Fort Stewart produced a median confinement of 8 months, and special courts-martial 3 months. Each level had 9% of its cases contested.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Stewart | 46 | 9% | 1 of 4 | 6 months | 91% |
| Kaiserslautern (Europe) | 45 | 20% | 4 of 9 | 5 months | 79% |
Forum and Rank
A military judge alone decided 43 Fort Stewart cases, and enlisted panels decided 3. Members heard 7% of cases, against 18% at Kaiserslautern. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows how many cases were contested.
28 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 17 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. The sheet describes this mix as more junior than Kaiserslautern, where 49% were junior enlisted.
Years and the Late-2023 Changes
The records run from January 2024 through September 2026. By year: 2024: 13, 2025: 20, 2026: 13. The 2026 count is a partial year.
Two changes took effect at the end of 2023. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For cases where every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Offense dates are not in these records.
Limits of the Records
The records list charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. 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 (46) and Kaiserslautern (Europe) (45) with trial dates in 2024–2026. Each figure for Fort Stewart is set beside the same figure for Kaiserslautern (Europe).
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)
- Kaiserslautern (Europe): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
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- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Fort Stewart, 2024–2026
- Gregory B. Batdorff
- Todd M. Chard
- Robyn M. Chatwood
- Jerrod B. Fussnecker
- Oren Gleich
- Tyler J. Heimann
- Benjamin W. Hillner
- Thomas P. Hynes
- Julie K. Waters
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.