How Has Article 117a Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016?
Almost every Air Force member charged under Article 117a (intimate image) pleaded guilty: 11 of the 12 cases with a plea recorded, a contested share of 8% compared with 48% in the rest of the Air Force. All 16 cases from 2016–2025 ended in a conviction with confinement.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 117a › Air Force
Short answer: Almost every Air Force member charged under Article 117a (intimate image) pleaded guilty: 11 of the 12 cases with a plea recorded, a contested share of 8% compared with 48% in the rest of the Air Force. All 16 cases from 2016–2025 ended in a conviction with confinement. The first case in the records was tried in June 2019.
11 Guilty Pleas and 1 Contested Case
The plea is listed in 12 of the 16 records. Of those, 11 accused pleaded guilty and 1 contested at least one charge. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share of 8% is lower than the 48% in the rest of the Air Force.
A military judge alone decided guilt in 15 cases, and an enlisted panel decided 1. No officer panel heard a case. Members heard 6% of these cases, compared with 39% Air Force-wide.
Confinement in Every Conviction
Confinement was part of 100% of the 16 convictions. The median was 6 months, compared with 4 months in the rest of the Air Force. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 1.5 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
Punitive Discharges in 80% of Enlisted Convictions
Of 15 convicted enlisted members, 12 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (80%), compared with 56% across the Air Force as a whole. Of those 12, 4 were dishonorable discharges. The group also includes 1 convicted officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
From No Cases to a Peak in 2022
The records hold no Article 117a case from 2016 through 2018. There were 3 in 2019, 0 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 7 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 1 in 2025.
A Larger Share of Convictions
Among Air Force convictions with the offenses listed, Article 117a was part of 0 of 786 in 2016–2018 (0%) and 5 of 494 in 2023–2025 (1%), a larger share. The 16 cases are 1% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 117a | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0 | 205 | 0% |
| 2017 | 0 | 294 | 0% |
| 2018 | 0 | 287 | 0% |
| 2019 | 3 | 271 | 1% |
| 2020 | 0 | 186 | 0% |
| 2021 | 1 | 202 | 0% |
| 2022 | 7 | 208 | 3% |
| 2023 | 1 | 152 | 1% |
| 2024 | 3 | 173 | 2% |
| 2025 | 1 | 169 | 1% |
Other Charges in the Same Case
Article 117a was the only charge in 4 of 16 cases. Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure), Article 134 (general article), Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019), and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 4 cases. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 3.
Rank and Court Level
The accused were 13 junior enlisted members, 2 NCOs, and 1 officer, a more junior group than all Air Force cases in those years. There were 8 general and 8 special courts-martial. The general share of 50% compares with 51% across the whole Air Force.
Rules and Gaps
Article 117a is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute it, but that depends on the offense date, which the records do not give. Air Force records never report plea agreements, and from 2016 to 2019 they rarely list a guilty plea. 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 117a (16 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 117a (Wrongful Broadcast of Intimate Visual Images): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- Fewer or More? Intimate Image Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (another service)
- Fewer or More? Intimate Image Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (another service)
- Air Force Article 109 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025
- Air Force Article 113 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force Intimate Image Conviction?
- 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.