> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 107 in the Air Force - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-107-junior-enlisted/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:49.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:13:34.000Z - Description: Air Force records from 2016–2025 include 75 courts-martial of junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) charged under Article 107, false official statement. 61% of those convicted received a punitive discharge, compared with 52% across all Air Force Article 107 cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 107, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 107](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-107-courts-martial/) › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) **Short answer:** Air Force records from 2016–2025 include 75 courts-martial of junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) charged under Article 107, false official statement. 61% of those convicted received a punitive discharge, compared with 52% across all Air Force Article 107 cases. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as for all Air Force Article 107 cases. Based on 75 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Punitive Discharges Were More Common for Junior Enlisted Members 46 of the 75 convicted junior enlisted members received a punitive discharge. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge adjudged by the court-martial. That is 61%, higher than the 52% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. Most of those discharges were bad-conduct discharges: 43 bad-conduct and 3 dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not prevent the Air Force from separating a member administratively later. ## Article 107 Was Usually Charged With Other Offenses Only 5 of the 75 cases charged Article 107 by itself. Across all Air Force Article 107 cases, 17 of 135 charged it by itself. Drug offenses under Article 112a were the most common other charge, in 41 cases. Absence without leave (AWOL) under Article 86 was charged in 23 cases, orders violations under Article 92 in 19, the general article, Article 134, in 13, and larceny under Article 121 in 9\. A sentence covers every charge in the case. The confinement and discharge figures here therefore include these other offenses, not the false statement alone. ## How Much Confinement Was Adjudged? 65 of the 75 sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as for all Air Force Article 107 cases. 45 convictions (60%) were sentenced to under 6 months of confinement, compared with 51% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. Only 10 convictions (13%) had no confinement, compared with 24% for all Article 107 cases. 4 of 75 convictions (5%) were sentenced to more than one year, about the same as the 6% for all Article 107 cases. These are adjudged sentences: the punishment announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force Article 107 cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 10 | 13% | 24% | | Under 6 months | 45 | 60% | 51% | | 6 months to 1 year | 16 | 21% | 19% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 4% | 4% | | 5 years or more | 1 | 1% | 2% | ## Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial Special courts-martial heard 58 of the 75 cases. General courts-martial heard 17 (23%). A special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. In the general courts-martial, the median confinement was 8 months and 50% of cases were contested. In the special courts-martial, the median confinement was 3 months and 12% were contested. ## How Many Cases Were Contested? Only 34 of the 75 records list a plea. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. Among those 34 cases, 26 accused pleaded guilty and 8 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 24%, about the same as the 26% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. ## Who Decided Guilt The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone heard 56 cases, officer panels heard 13, and enlisted panels heard 6. Members heard 25% of the cases, compared with 27% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas. The split between judge and members therefore follows the number of contested cases. ## Case Counts by Year The 75 cases were tried from May 2016 through December 2025\. There were 10 cases in 2016, 4 in 2017, 11 in 2018, and 13 in 2019, the highest yearly count. There were 8 cases in 2020, between 4 and 6 each year from 2021 through 2024, and 9 in 2025. Junior enlisted members were 56% of the accused in all Air Force Article 107 cases. Yearly counts this small can change by several cases from one year to the next. ## Bases With the Most Cases Nellis AFB, Nevada, tried 7 of these cases, and Dyess AFB, Texas, tried 6\. Travis AFB, California, Ft Meade, Maryland, and the USAF Academy, Colorado, each tried 3\. These 5 installations account for 29% of the 75 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not by itself mean a base has more of this offense. ## Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months, and required written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence. Both changes depend on offense dates, and the records do not give offense dates. The records also do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment. Air Force records rarely list the charges in full acquittals. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 107 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025 that charged junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) under Article 107 (75 cases), compared with every Air Force Article 107 case. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 107 (False Official Statements): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-107-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [What Happens to Army Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing False Official Statement Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-107-junior-enlisted/) - [NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Charged Under Article 107 in the Army](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-107-ncos/) - [Army False Official Statement Cases Against Officers: Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-107-officers/) - [Army Article 107 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-107-trend-2021-2025/) - [Fewer or More? False Official Statement Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-107-trend-2016-2025/) - [Article 107 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.