Inside 45 Courts-Martial at Kaiserslautern (Europe), 2024–2026

Trends › By Installation › Kaiserslautern (Europe) › 2024–2026

Based on 45 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Are Now Guilty Pleas

In 2020–2023, 52% of the cases with a plea recorded were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. In 2024–2026, that share was 20%.

Other measures also changed. There were 27 cases in 2020–2023, about 7 a year, and about 17 a year since, counting full years. The median confinement went from 3 months to 5 months. The share of convictions with confinement went from 78% to 98%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 67% to 79%. Full acquittals in decided contested cases went from 8 of 13 to 4 of 9.

These are small groups, and a few cases can change any rate. The records cannot say why these numbers changed.

Every Guilty Plea Had a Plea Agreement

Of the 45 cases, 36 ended in guilty pleas and 9 were contested. The contested share here was 20%; across the Army it was 21%.

Army records note whether a guilty plea came with a plea agreement, though not what the agreement said. All 36 of the guilty pleas here are recorded with one.

Pleas varied by charge. Cases charging Article 128b (domestic violence) ended in a guilty plea 92% of the time (11 of 12). Cases charging Article 128 (assault) did so 64% of the time (7 of 11). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.

Which Articles Were Charged

All 45 records list charges, and a case with several articles appears in several rows. Article 128b and Article 134 were each charged in 27% of cases, and Article 128 in 24%. Article 134 and Article 128 were both charged more often than across the Army, where their shares were 21% and 20%.

Article 113 (drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle) was charged in 9% of cases here (3% elsewhere in the Army).

Conviction Rates for the Most Common Charges

For each of the 3 most common charges, almost every case ended in a conviction on that article. Article 128b and Article 134 each had 11 convictions from 12 cases, and Article 128 had 10 from 11.

The median confinement differed by charge: 3 months after a conviction on Article 128b, 6 months for Article 128, and 1 year for Article 134. A conviction on one article and an acquittal on another can occur in the same case, so these rows overlap.

Confinement Was Part of 40 of 41 Convictions

Of 41 convictions, 40 included confinement. Only 2% of convictions had none (15% across the Army). The median confinement was 5 months, and a quarter of the sentences were 1.1 years or longer.

Most sentences were short: 56% were under 6 months (39% across the Army). Sentences longer than one year were about as common as in the rest of the Army: 13 of 41 convictions (32%), compared with 30%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Punitive Discharges and Rank

A punitive discharge was part of 79% of enlisted convictions (26 bad-conduct, 4 dishonorable). Across the Army the share was 73%. Of 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

By rank, the accused were 22 junior enlisted members, 20 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group was more senior than the Army as a whole.

Court Level, Forum, and Similar Installations

There were 28 general and 17 special courts-martial. General courts-martial were 62% of cases here and 69% across the Army. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 1 year, and 29% were contested. Special courts-martial, capped at one year, had a median confinement of 3 months, and 6% were contested.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 37 cases, and enlisted panels heard 8. Members heard 18% of cases here and 13% in the rest of the Army.

Fort Carson and Fort Drum each tried 45 cases in the same years. The contested share was 40% at Fort Carson and 11% at Fort Drum. Fort Drum had the longest median confinement of the 3, 11 months, and a 95% punitive discharge share.

Timing, New Rules, and What the Records Omit

The data holds cases from March 2024 to September 2026: 25 in 2024, 9 in 2025, and 11 in 2026, a partial year. They make up 4% of the 1,252 Army courts-martial in the period.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges set sentences within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so these cases mix old and new rules. The records cannot show whether the rule changes caused any change above. They also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or nonjudicial punishment.

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.