Air Force Article 109 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025
The records hold 19 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 that charged Article 109 (property damage). Guilty pleas were more common than in the Air Force as a whole: 27% of cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 48%.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 109 › Air Force
Short answer: The records hold 19 Air Force courts-martial from 2016–2025 that charged Article 109 (property damage). Guilty pleas were more common than in the Air Force as a whole: 27% of cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 48%. Confinement was part of 95% of the 19 convictions, and 14 of 18 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.
11 Guilty Pleas Among 15 Recorded Pleas
The plea is listed in 15 of the 19 records. Of those, 11 were guilty pleas and 4 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 27% is lower than the 48% across the Air Force as a whole.
Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea.
Confinement Nearly Every Time
Confinement was part of 95% of the 19 convictions. The median was 6 months, compared with 4 months Air Force-wide. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 11 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
Punitive Discharges for 14 of 18 Enlisted Members
Of 18 convicted enlisted members, 14 received a punitive discharge: 12 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. Across all Air Force cases in those years, the share was 56%. The group also includes 1 convicted officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Assault and Orders Violations in 9 Cases Each
In 18 of the 19 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 9 cases. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 6, Article 112a (drug) in 5, and Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since) in 3.
Cases by Year
There was 1 case in 2016, 0 in 2017, 1 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 2 in 2025. The 19 cases are 1% of all 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
Share of Air Force Convictions
Article 109 was part of 2 of 786 Air Force convictions in 2016–2018 (0%) and 5 of 494 in 2023–2025 (1%), about the same share. The yearly number of convictions including Article 109 was highest in 2022, at 4. The share uses convictions with the offenses listed.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 109 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 205 | 0% |
| 2017 | 0 | 294 | 0% |
| 2018 | 1 | 287 | 0% |
| 2019 | 2 | 271 | 1% |
| 2020 | 2 | 186 | 1% |
| 2021 | 3 | 202 | 1% |
| 2022 | 4 | 208 | 2% |
| 2023 | 1 | 152 | 1% |
| 2024 | 2 | 173 | 1% |
| 2025 | 2 | 169 | 1% |
Military Judge or Members
A military judge alone decided guilt in 15 of 19 cases with the forum listed (79%). Members heard 4: 2 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels.
Rank and Court Level
The accused were 15 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 3 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer. Air Force-wide, 62% were junior enlisted, so this group is more junior. Of the 19 cases, 10 were general courts-martial (53%), compared with 51% in the rest of the Air Force.
Limits of the Records
Air Force records never report plea agreements. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show whether the 2019 or 2023 rule changes applied to a given case. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and the evidence are not included.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025 that charged Article 109 (19 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 109 (Property Other Than Military; Waste, Spoilage, Destruction): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- How Has Article 109 Changed in Army Courts-Martial Since 2021? (another service)
- Fewer or More? Property Damage Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (another service)
- Air Force Article 113 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Air Force Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025
- How Much Confinement for an Article 109 Conviction in the Air Force?
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.