> ## 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. # Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-115-trend-2021-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:05:22.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:04:06.000Z - Description: Air Force records include 38 courts-martial from 2021 to 2025 that charged Article 115, which has covered communicating threats since 2019 and malingering before that. The median confinement was 6 months, close to the 5-month median Air Force-wide. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 115, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 115](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) › Air Force **Short answer:** Air Force records include 38 courts-martial from 2021 to 2025 that charged Article 115, which has covered communicating threats since 2019 and malingering before that. The median confinement was 6 months, close to the 5-month median Air Force-wide. 38% of these cases were contested, compared with 48% across the Air Force. Based on 38 cases · 2021–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Article 115 Was Almost Always Charged With Other Offenses 37 of the 38 cases charged at least one other article. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 18 of them, and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 17\. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 10, Article 92 (orders violation) in 7, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 6. A sentence covers all the charges in a case. The confinement and discharge figures below therefore include the assault and domestic violence charges as well as the threat. ## The Most Cases Were in 2023 The 38 cases were tried between March 2021 and December 2025\. There were 8 in 2021, 8 in 2022, 12 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 4 in 2025\. Together they are 3% of the 1,201 Air Force courts-martial in those years. Convictions that included Article 115 were also highest in 2023, at 11\. That year they were 7% of Air Force convictions with offenses listed. In 2021–2022, the offense was part of 15 of 410 convictions (4%). In 2024–2025, it was part of 8 of 342 (2%). Shares of convictions allow years with more or fewer cases to be compared. | Year | Convictions incl. Art. 115 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share | | ---- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----- | | 2021 | 7 | 202 | 3% | | 2022 | 8 | 208 | 4% | | 2023 | 11 | 152 | 7% | | 2024 | 5 | 173 | 3% | | 2025 | 3 | 169 | 2% | ## Most Accused Pleaded Guilty 37 records list a plea. 23 were guilty pleas and 14 were contested. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 38%, lower than the 48% for all Air Force cases. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 31 of the 38 cases (82%). Members heard 7, all enlisted panels. Members heard 7 of the 14 contested cases (50%). Most guilty pleas are heard by a military judge alone, so the split between judge and members follows the number of contested cases. Air Force convictions that included Article 115, by year: 2021 7, 2022 8, 2023 11, 2024 5, 2025 372021820221120235202432025 Air Force convictions that included Article 115, by year ## Almost Every Conviction Included Confinement 36 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 35 of those sentences included confinement (97%). Across the Air Force, 13% of convictions had no confinement. Here only 1 conviction had none. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. 33% of convictions were sentenced to 6 months to 1 year, compared with 16% Air Force-wide. 42% were sentenced to under 6 months, about the same as the 46% Air Force-wide. 8 of 36 convictions (22%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 26% across the Air Force. 6 of those were between 1 and 5 years, and 2 were 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Air Force-wide | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------- | | No confinement | 1 | 3% | 13% | | Under 6 months | 15 | 42% | 46% | | 6 months to 1 year | 12 | 33% | 16% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 17% | 19% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 6% | 7% | ## General and Special Courts-Martial Compared A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. 22 cases were general courts-martial and 16 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 58%, close to the 55% Air Force-wide. Every general court-martial conviction (100%) included confinement, and the median was 9 months. In the special courts-martial, 93% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 4 months. ## Discharges and Rank For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 58% of enlisted convictions here included one: 19 bad-conduct and 2 dishonorable. That is about the same as the 59% in the rest of the Air Force. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. There are 0 officers in this group. The accused were 25 junior enlisted members and 13 NCOs. This group is more junior than all Air Force cases in those years. ## Bases With the Most Cases Creech AFB, Nevada, had the most of these cases, with 3\. JB Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Ramstein AB, Germany, JB Andrews, Maryland, and Osan AB, South Korea, each had 2\. These installations account for 29% of the 38 cases. Larger bases try more cases of every type, so counts this small say little about any one location. ## Why This Page Has No Acquittal Rate Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal. About one in six do. An acquittal rate for one offense based on these records would count too few acquittals, so this page does not give one. The Air Force posts covering all offenses do report acquittals. ## New Rules and What the Records Do Not Show 2 changes took effect during this period. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both depend on the offense date, and the records give only trial dates. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under both the old and new rules. The records also do not show the evidence, any plea terms, or conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Air Force records never report plea agreements, so the guilty pleas here cannot be sorted by whether an agreement capped the sentence. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 115 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?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 2021–2025 that charged Article 115 (38 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](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 115 (Malingering Before 2019, Communicating Threats Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub) - [Army Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-trend-2021-2025/) (another service) - [Fewer or More? Communicating Threats Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-115-trend-2021-2025/) (another service) - [Air Force Article 109 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-109-trend-2016-2025/) - [Air Force Article 113 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-113-trend-2021-2025/) - [Air Force Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-121-trend-2016-2025/) - [What Sentence Follows an Air Force Communicating Threats Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-115-sent-2021-2025/) - [Article 115 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?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.