Vilseck (Europe) Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 61 Cases Show

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

Based on 61 cases · 2024–2026 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Sentences Over 1 Year

Of 55 convictions, 22 (40%) had more than one year of confinement. In the Army as a whole, 30% did. The largest gap is in terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years: 33% of Vilseck convictions, and 21% in the rest of the Army. Just 7% of convictions here had no confinement. In the rest of the Army, 15% had none.

Overall, confinement was part of 51 of the 55 sentences (93%). A quarter were 2.5 years or longer. The median of 8 months is longer than the 6 months for all Army cases and equal to Vilseck's median in 2020–2023.

General and Special Courts-Martial

Of 61 cases, 36 were general courts-martial (59%). At that level, 97% of convictions brought confinement, and the median was 2.2 years. The other 25 were special courts-martial. There, 88% of convictions brought confinement, with a median of 4 months.

All figures here are adjudged sentences: what the court announced at trial. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or an appeal could change a sentence later, and the records do not show that.

Assault Was the Most Common Charge

Charge shares use the 60 cases with a charge list. A case with several articles is counted under each. Article 128 was in 37% of cases, and in 20% across the Army. Article 128b (domestic violence) was in 25%, equal to the Army share. Article 134 (the general article) was in 22%, and in 21% Army-wide.

Further down, Article 107 (false official statements) was in 8% of cases, compared with 5% Army-wide. Article 131b (obstructing justice) was in 7%, compared with 5%.

Convictions by Charge

Every Article 134 case ended in a conviction on that article: 13 of 13. The median confinement for those convictions was 1.3 years. For Article 128b, 13 of 15 cases ended in a conviction on that article. For Article 128, 18 of 22 did. Both of those had a median of 6 months. One case can include several of these charges, so the rows overlap.

Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

Guilty pleas numbered 43, and contested cases numbered 18. In a contested case, the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The 30% contested share compares with 21% for the whole Army. At Vilseck in 2020–2023, it was 49%.

Army records show a plea agreement for each of the 43 guilty pleas, but not the terms. The share of cases ending in a guilty plea depended on the charge. It was 85% for cases charging Article 134 (11 of 13) and 64% for cases charging Article 128 (14 of 22). The records do not say why an accused pleaded or fought.

Verdicts and Who Decided Guilt

Of 17 contested cases with a verdict, 5 were full acquittals (29%). The Army rate was 40%. In 10 more cases, the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another, which is a partial acquittal. Because Army results list findings charge by charge, partial acquittals are common in Army records. In 2020–2023, the full-acquittal count at Vilseck was 10 of 21.

A military judge alone decided 50 cases. Members decided 11: 10 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel, or 18% of cases with the forum listed. Of the 18 contested cases, members heard 11 (61%).

Punitive Discharges and Rank

For enlisted members, the punitive discharges are the bad-conduct discharge and the dishonorable discharge. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 54 convicted enlisted members, 42 received a punitive discharge (78%): 30 bad-conduct and 12 dishonorable. For all Army cases, the share was 73%, and at Vilseck in 2020–2023 it was also 73%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. Members whose sentence had no punitive discharge can still be administratively separated later.

By rank, there were 36 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 24 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. Junior enlisted members were 53% of all Army accused, so this group was more junior.

Year by Year and Since 2020–2023

Trials began in February 2024 and run through October 2026: 14 in 2024, 25 in 2025, and 22 so far in 2026, a partial year. They are 5% of the 1,252 Army courts-martial in those years. The 2020–2023 period had 43 cases. A few cases can change any figure in groups this size, so the earlier-period comparisons show direction only.

Wheeler Army Airfield and Fort Knox

These 2 installations tried a similar number of Army cases. Wheeler's figures were close to Vilseck's: 31% contested, a median of 9 months, and 80% punitive discharges. Fort Knox had 15% contested, a median of 2 months, and 26% punitive discharges.

Rules and Limits

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault and domestic violence. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new parameters. Offense dates are not in the records, so these trials include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the records cannot show whether the rules changed any figure. The records also 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.

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.