> ## 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. # How Much Confinement for an Article 109 Conviction in the Air Force? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-109-sent-2016-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-30T08:05:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:05:09.000Z - Description: The records hold 18 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 that ended in a conviction under Article 109 (property damage). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 109, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 109](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-109-courts-martial/) › How Much Confinement for an Article 109 **Short answer:** The records hold 18 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 that ended in a conviction under Article 109 (property damage). A punitive discharge followed 76% of enlisted convictions, compared with 56% for all Air Force convictions in those years, and the median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months. Based on 18 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Punitive Discharges in 76% of Enlisted Convictions A punitive discharge followed 76% of enlisted convictions in this group: 11 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. Across all Air Force convictions in those years, the rate was 56%. 1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears here, and 1 was dismissed, the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence that does not include a punitive discharge still leaves room for a later administrative separation. ## Confinement in 17 of 18 Sentences Of the 18 convictions, 17 carried confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months for all Air Force convictions in those years. A quarter of the confinement terms were 11 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences: what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case. ## Assault and Orders Violations Often Charged Too Article 109 was the only charge in 1 of the 18 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 9 cases and Article 128 (assault) in 8\. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 5, Article 112a (drug) in 4, and Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since) in 3. ## Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases 14 of the 18 records list the plea. Of those, 11 were guilty pleas and 3 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 21%, lower than the 31% for all Air Force convictions in those years. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. ## Forum The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 17% of the cases with the forum listed: 2 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. The other 15 were decided by a military judge alone. ## Rank and Court Level Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 78% of the accused, NCOs 17%, and officers 6%. Across all Air Force convictions in those years, junior enlisted members were 66%. General courts-martial made up 50% of these cases (9 of 18), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Trial Years and Law Changes The trials ran from February 2016 to July 2025: 1 in 2016, 0 in 2017, 1 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 2 in 2025. The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, with written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. Offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder are prosecuted. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. The records give trial dates only, so the rules for each later trial are unknown. ## What the Records Leave Out The records do not describe the evidence, and Air Force records never report plea agreements. Air Force records also rarely list the charges in full acquittals. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025: ending in a conviction under Article 109 (property damage) (18 cases), compared with all Air Force convictions in those years. 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 109 (Property Other Than Military; Waste, Spoilage, Destruction): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-109-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub) - [Air Force Article 109 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-109-trend-2016-2025/) - [Pleading Guilty to Article 109 in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-109-plea-2016-2025/) - [What Sentence Follows an Army Property Damage Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-109-sent-2021-2025/) (another service) - [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Property Damage Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-109-sent-2017-2025/) (another service) - [Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-118-sent-2016-2025/) - [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.