What Happens to Air Force NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing False Official Statement Charges?

Trends › By Offense › Article 107 › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 53 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Many NCOs Received No Confinement

20 of the 53 convicted NCOs (38%) received no confinement. That is higher than the 24% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. 33 sentences included confinement, and the median confinement was 3 months.

21 convictions (40%) were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 51% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. 8 convictions (15%) were sentenced to 6 months to 1 year. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers all the charges in the case.

Sentences Over One Year Were Slightly More Common

4 of 53 convictions (8%) were sentenced to more than one year of confinement. That is slightly higher than the 6% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. 2 of those sentences were between 1 year and 5 years, and 2 were 5 years or more.

Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year. 18 of these cases (34%) were general courts-martial, compared with 30% for all Air Force Article 107 cases. The median confinement was 10 months in the general courts-martial and 3 months in the 35 special courts-martial.

Punitive Discharges for 40%

21 of the 53 convictions included a punitive discharge: 17 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. That 40% share is lower than the 52% for all Air Force Article 107 cases.

Only a general court-martial can adjudge a dishonorable discharge. An NCO whose sentence had no punitive discharge could still face administrative separation. These records do not track administrative separations.

Which Other Offenses Were Charged?

42 of the 53 cases charged Article 107 together with at least one other article. Orders violations under Article 92 and larceny under Article 121 were each charged in 19 cases. The general article, Article 134, was charged in 14.

Drug offenses under Article 112a were charged in only 4 cases, and assault under Article 128 in 3. A sentence covers every charge in the case. The punishment figures here therefore include these other offenses, not the false statement alone.

Pleas and Contested Cases

Only 18 of the 53 records list a plea. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. Of the 18, 13 NCOs pleaded guilty and 5 contested at least one charge.

The contested share was 28%, 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 decided 38 of these cases. Enlisted panels decided 9, and officer panels decided 6.

Members heard 28% 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 share of contested cases.

Fewer Cases in Recent Years

The cases were tried from March 2016 to October 2025. There were 9 cases in 2016, 8 in 2017, 8 in 2018, 6 in 2019, and 5 in 2020. There were 3 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 7 in 2025.

Junior enlisted members were 56% of the accused in all Air Force Article 107 cases, so NCOs were the smaller group for this offense. Yearly counts this small can change by several cases from one year to the next.

Installations

Osan AB, South Korea, tried 5 of these cases, and McConnell AFB, Kansas, tried 4. JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and Nellis AFB, Nevada, each tried 3. JB Charleston, South Carolina, tried 2. These bases account for 32% of the cases. Larger bases try more cases of every type.

What the Records Do Not Show

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Changes in 2023 gave special trial counsel the decision to prosecute covered offenses and gave military judges the sentencing decision. Both sets of changes depend on offense dates. The records list only trial dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to a case.

The records also do not show the evidence, any plea terms, or misconduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Air Force records rarely list the charges in a full acquittal and never report plea agreements. The figures here describe convictions and the pleas that the records list.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 107 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: 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.