Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Before and After 2024: How Its Courts-Martial Changed

Trends › By Installation › Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston › Before and after 2024

Based on 21 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Almost Every Case Was a Guilty Plea

Of the 21 cases tried since January 2024, 20 were guilty pleas and 1 was contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 5%, compares with 21% in all Army cases in these years and 41% at this installation in 2021–2023.

Plea agreements are recorded in 19 of the 20 guilty pleas, and 1 has no entry. Army records indicate whether an agreement existed, not what it contained. All 21 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. The 1 contested case that reached a verdict did not end in a full acquittal.

Changes From 2021–2023

The earlier period had 22 cases over 3 years, about 7 a year. Since then there have been about 10 a year, counting full years only. The contested share went from 41% to 5%. The share of cases tried at a general court-martial went from 86% to 45%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 92% to 41%.

Confinement changed less. Convictions with any confinement went from 56% to 62%, and the median confinement went from 3 months to 4 months. Full acquittals in decided contested cases went from 6 of 9 to 0 of 1. With about 20 cases in each period, a few results can change these percentages, so they show direction only.

Fewer Punitive Discharges Than Across the Army

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member, or a dismissal for an officer. Of 17 enlisted members convicted here, 7 received one (41%), compared with 73% in the rest of the Army. 1 of the 7 was dishonorable.

4 officers or warrant officers were convicted, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.

Confinement Was Less Common

Of 21 convictions, 13 included confinement (62%). 8 convictions, or 38%, included no confinement, compared with 15% across the Army. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months across the Army. A quarter of the sentences were 9 months or more.

3 of 21 convictions (14%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 30% across the Army. 2 of those (10%) were 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, covering every charge in the case.

Who Was Tried: Mostly NCOs and Officers

NCOs made up 67% of the accused, and officers made up 19%. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 14%. Across the Army, junior enlisted members were 53% of the accused.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, while a special court-martial cannot exceed one year or impose a dishonorable discharge. General courts-martial made up 45% of the 20 cases here with a court level listed (9 of 20).

Assault and Domestic Violence Charges

Charge lists cover 20 of the 21 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged in 30% of cases, compared with 25% across the Army. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 25%, compared with 20%. Article 134, the general article, was charged in 15%, compared with 21%. The other articles in the table were each charged in 2 cases.

Only 1 Case Went to a Panel of Members

The accused usually chooses whether guilt is decided by a military judge alone or by a panel of members. Here, 20 cases went to a judge alone and 1 to an officer panel, with 0 enlisted panels. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, and only 1 case here was contested.

Compared With Fort Leavenworth and Fort Sill

Fort Leavenworth (20 cases) and Fort Sill (24 cases) tried a similar number in these years. Fort Sam Houston had the lowest contested share of the 3: 5%, compared with 35% and 46%. It had the shortest median confinement: 4 months, compared with 1.2 years and 5 months. It had the lowest punitive discharge share: 41%, compared with 81% and 65%.

Timing and Limits

The records show 10 cases in 2024, 9 in 2025, and 2 in 2026 through May, a partial year. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied or whether the rules changed any result. The records also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or conduct 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.