22 Assault Courts-Martial at Wheeler Army Airfield, 2021–2023: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Wheeler Army Airfield › Article 128, 2021–2023

Based on 22 cases · 2021–2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Median Confinement Was 1 Year

17 of the 22 cases ended in a conviction, and 76% of those sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 1 year. Across Army assault cases in the same years, the median was 5 months.

A quarter of the Wheeler sentences were 8.2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case. That matters here, because almost every case included charges besides assault.

Assault Was Often Charged With Sexual Assault

21 of the 22 cases charged at least one other article. The most common was Article 120 (sexual assault), in 11 cases.

Article 134 (the general article) appeared in 5 cases, Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 4, Article 80 (attempt) in 4, and Article 89 (disrespect) in 2. When an assault charge appears with a sexual assault or domestic violence charge, it can describe part of the same incident. A long sentence reflects the whole case.

Most Cases Were Contested

A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either fully or with a mixed plea. Wheeler had 12 contested cases and 10 guilty pleas. The contested share was 55%, compared with 41% across all Army Article 128 cases.

All 10 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement. Army records show whether there was an agreement, but not its terms.

Results in Contested Cases

12 contested cases reached a verdict. 5 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty on every charge. That rate, 42%, is higher than the 28% in all Army Article 128 cases.

6 more contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army records. With 12 contested cases, 1 verdict changes these percentages by several points.

Who Decided Guilt?

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 43% of the cases with the forum listed: 8 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. A military judge alone heard the other 12.

Members heard 9 of 11 contested cases (82%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the overall split mostly follows the number of contested cases.

Punitive Discharges and Dismissals

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. 8 of 14 convicted enlisted members received one: 2 bad-conduct discharges and 6 dishonorable discharges. Across Army Article 128 cases in 2021–2023, the share was 70%, higher than at Wheeler.

For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. 3 officers or warrant officers were convicted, and 1 was sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not include administrative separations.

Rank and Court Level

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 45% of the accused. NCOs were 41%, and officers were 14%. Across the Army as a whole, junior enlisted members were 57%.

General courts-martial heard 18 of the 22 cases (82%), about the same as the 80% across Army Article 128 cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial can adjudge no more than one year of confinement and no dishonorable discharge.

Case Counts

The cases were tried between February 2021 and December 2023: 12 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 6 in 2023. Assault cases were 31% of the 72 courts-martial at Wheeler Army Airfield in that period.

The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021. The 2021 count, 12 cases, was the highest of the 3 years.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence for each case. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Assaults handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial

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.