What Kaiserslautern (Europe) Tried in 2024
Kaiserslautern (Europe) had 25 Army courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement after conviction was 9 months, compared with 6 months across the Army.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Kaiserslautern (Europe) › 2024
Short answer: Kaiserslautern (Europe) had 25 Army courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement after conviction was 9 months, compared with 6 months across the Army. The general article, Article 134, and assault under Article 128 were each charged in 32% of cases, compared with 21% and 23% across the Army.
Longer Sentences Than Across the Army
The 25 cases in this data were tried between March 2024 and December 2024. They produced 24 convictions, and confinement was part of 96% of them. The median confinement was 9 months, compared with 6 months for the Army as a whole. A quarter of the sentences were 1.2 years or longer.
Longer sentences were more common. Sentences over one year made up 10 of 24 convictions (42%), compared with 28% across the Army. Sentences from more than 1 year to under 5 years made up 33% of convictions, compared with 21%. Only 1 conviction (4%) included no confinement, compared with 13% across the Army.
These are adjudged sentences: what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one reflects all of the charges in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Army as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 1 | 4% | 13% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 42% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 12% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 33% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 8% | 7% |
Assault and the General Article
Every record lists the charges. Article 128 (assault) and Article 134 (the general article) were each charged in 8 cases, or 32% of all cases. Across the Army, those shares were 23% and 21%.
Some charges common elsewhere were less common here. Article 128b (domestic violence) was charged in 12% of cases, compared with 23% across the Army. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 8%, compared with 15%. Article 107 (false official statements) and Article 115 (communicating threats) were each charged in 2 cases. Each article counts once per case, so a single case can appear in several rows.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Army as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 32% | 23% |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 32% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 12% | 23% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 8% | 4% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 8% | 15% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 2 | 8% | 4% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 8% | 12% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 8% | 6% |
Both of the Most Common Charges Always Ended in Conviction
Both of the most common charges ended in a conviction on the charged article in 8 of 8 cases. The median confinement after an Article 128 conviction was 9 months. For Article 134, the median was 1 year.
A single case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these counts describe each article on its own rather than whole cases.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 9 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 8 (8 of 8) | 1 year |
Guilty Pleas and Contested Trials
Of 25 accused, 19 pleaded guilty and 6 contested at least one charge, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 24%, about the same as the 27% across the Army. All 19 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, though Army records state only that an agreement existed, not its terms.
Of the 6 decided contested cases, 1 ended in a full acquittal.
Most Enlisted Convictions Included a Punitive Discharge
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is either a bad-conduct or a dishonorable discharge. Of 23 convicted enlisted members, 20 received one: 17 bad-conduct and 3 dishonorable. That rate, 87%, compares with 72% across the Army.
The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Mostly General Courts-Martial
Of the 25 cases, 20 were general courts-martial (80%), compared with 72% in all Army cases in 2024. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
The accused were 13 junior enlisted members, 11 NCOs, and 1 officer. This rank mix was similar to the Army as a whole.
Who Heard the Cases
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 20 of 25 cases (80%), and enlisted panels heard the other 5. There were no officer panels. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split follows how many cases were contested.
Compared With Fort Campbell and Fort Carson
Fort Campbell (27 cases) and Fort Carson (30 cases) tried a similar number of cases. The contested share was lower at Fort Campbell, 15%, and higher at Fort Carson, 33%. Kaiserslautern's median confinement, 9 months, was the longest of the 3, compared with 8 months at Fort Campbell and 4 months at Fort Carson. Its punitive discharge rate, 87%, was between Fort Campbell's 91% and Fort Carson's 77%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiserslautern (Europe) | 25 | 24% | 1 of 6 | 9 months | 87% |
| Fort Campbell | 27 | 15% | 2 of 4 | 8 months | 91% |
| Fort Carson | 30 | 33% | 3 of 10 | 4 months | 77% |
Rule Changes and What the Records Omit
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records do not give offense dates, so 2024 trials mix cases under the old and new rules.
The data covers only what reached a courtroom. It does not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, cases closed with no action, the evidence, or plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Kaiserslautern (Europe) with a trial date in 2024 (25 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
- Kaiserslautern (Europe): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Kaiserslautern (Europe) in 2021: 13 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Inside 45 Courts-Martial at Kaiserslautern (Europe), 2024–2026 (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 Kaiserslautern (Europe), 2024
- Alyssa S. Adams
- Gregory B. Batdorff
- Tyler J. Heimann
- Scott Z. Hughes
- Thomas P. Hynes
- Adam S. Kazin
- Charles L. Pritchard Jr.
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.