The OSTC Years in the Data: Companion to S4 E1
From January 2024 to October 2026, Army and Air Force records hold 771 courts-martial charging at least one covered offense, the category that special trial counsel now control.
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Short answer: From January 2024 to October 2026, Army and Air Force records hold 771 courts-martial charging at least one covered offense, the category that special trial counsel now control. Article 128b domestic violence appeared in 50% of them, compared with 22% of all Army and Air Force cases since 2024. The median confinement after a conviction was 1.1 years, compared with 6 months.
What Counts as a Covered Offense Case Here
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, rather than commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. That change is the subject of the S4 E1 podcast episode this page accompanies.
The trial records do not say who referred each case, and the new rules turn on the offense date, which the records also omit. For that reason, this page counts every Army and Air Force case from 2024 on that charged at least one covered offense. These years include cases tried under both the old and the new rules. By year, there were 297 cases in 2024, 282 in 2025, and 192 in 2026, a partial year.
Domestic Violence Was the Most Common Charge
All 771 records list the charges. A case with several articles counts under each one. Article 128b domestic violence appeared in 389 cases (50%), compared with 22% of all Army and Air Force cases since 2024. Article 120 rape and sexual assault appeared in 28%, compared with 12%. Article 120b, rape and sexual assault of a child, appeared in 19%, compared with 8%.
Some articles appeared less often than in all Army and Air Force cases. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 12% of these cases, compared with 22%. Article 112a drug offenses appeared in 2%, compared with 10%. Article 128 assault, which can be charged with a covered offense, appeared in 14%, compared with 18%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Army and Air Force cases since 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 389 | 50% | 22% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 213 | 28% | 12% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 150 | 19% | 8% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 108 | 14% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 95 | 12% | 22% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 55 | 7% | 12% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 49 | 6% | 3% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 42 | 5% | 4% |
Conviction Rates Differed by Charge
Of 389 cases charging Article 128b, 330 ended in a conviction on that article (85%), with a median confinement of 7 months. Article 120b ended in a conviction on that article in 131 of 150 cases (87%), with a median confinement of 6 years.
Article 120 had a lower conviction rate. Of 213 cases charging it, 107 ended in a conviction on that article (50%), with a median confinement of 2.3 years. Article 128 assault ended in a conviction on that article in 63 of 108 cases (58%), with a median of 1.4 years. Cases charging Article 128b ended in a guilty plea 71% of the time (268 of 376). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 26% of the time (52 of 199). A case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 389 | 330 (85%) | 7 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 213 | 107 (50%) | 2.3 years |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 150 | 131 (87%) | 6 years |
| Art. 128 Assault | 108 | 63 (58%) | 1.4 years |
More Contested Cases and More Full Acquittals
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 736 records that list a plea, 291 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 445 were guilty pleas. That is 40% contested. In all Army and Air Force cases since 2024, the contested share was 27%.
Of 291 contested cases that reached a verdict, 137 ended in a full acquittal (47%). 74 ended in a partial acquittal (25%): not guilty of at least one charge, but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate is higher than the 43% across all Army and Air Force cases since 2024.
Panels and General Courts-Martial
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone heard 558 of these cases, enlisted panels heard 161, and officer panels heard 40. Members heard 26% of cases, compared with 18% in all Army and Air Force cases. Among contested cases, members heard 200 of 279 (72%). Contested cases decided by members ended in a full acquittal 49% of the time (98 of 200). Contested cases decided by a judge alone ended in a full acquittal 34% of the time (27 of 79).
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. General courts-martial made up 81% of the 768 cases with a court level listed (619 of 768), compared with 65% across the Army and Air Force. The court level is not listed for 3 cases. Those 619 cases had a median confinement of 1.8 years, and 46% were contested. The 149 special courts-martial had a median of 3 months, and 14% were contested.
Longer Sentences Than in Other Cases
92% of the 618 convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 1.1 years, compared with 6 months in all Army and Air Force cases since 2024. A quarter of the sentences were 3.8 years or longer. 4 were life sentences.
290 of 618 convictions (47%) carried more than one year of confinement, compared with 29%. Sentences of 5 years or more were 20% of convictions, compared with 9%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records cannot show which cases that applied to.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army and Air Force cases since 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 49 | 8% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 165 | 27% | 40% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 114 | 18% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 168 | 27% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 122 | 20% | 9% |
Discharges and Dismissals
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 82% of enlisted convictions in these cases included one: 266 bad-conduct discharges and 199 dishonorable discharges. In all Army and Air Force cases since 2024, the rate was 70%.
The records list 50 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 32 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Installations
The accused were 423 junior enlisted members, 281 NCOs, and 66 officers. That mix is similar to all Army and Air Force cases. The 5 installations with the most cases were Fort Hood (65), Fort Bragg (47), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (43), Fort Campbell (41), and Wheeler Army Airfield (26). Together they had 29% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show anything about one installation.
What the Records Cannot Show
The records have no referral information and no offense dates. For that reason, they cannot show which cases special trial counsel handled or which were sentenced under the new parameters. They also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or covered-offense allegations resolved without a court-martial.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army and Air Force courts-martial tried 2024–2026 that charged at least one covered offense (Arts. 117a, 118, 119, 120, 120b, 120c, 125, 128b, 130, 132).
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
- Episode Companions (hub)
- Panels by the Numbers: The Data Behind S2 E24, Farce of a Panel
- Behind S2 E2: Courts-Martial at MCAS Miramar by the Numbers
- Camp Pendleton Courts-Martial Since 2020: The Numbers Behind S1 E32 and E33
- Fort Hood After 2009: What Its Courts-Martial Look Like Now
- Keesler AFB in the Records: The Data Behind S1 E11
- S4 E1: Galvin and OSTC Jurisdiction (podcast, members)
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.