Sexual Assault at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2024: The Year in Numbers
Air Force sexual assault cases under Article 120 were contested much more often than other Air Force cases in 2024. Of the 34 cases, 83% of those with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 45% Air Force-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Air Force, 2024
Short answer: Air Force sexual assault cases under Article 120 were contested much more often than other Air Force cases in 2024. Of the 34 cases, 83% of those with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 45% Air Force-wide. Every conviction included confinement, with a median of 2.5 years, compared with 5 months for all Air Force cases. All 14 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.
Most Cases Were Contested
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 30 of the Article 120 records from 2024 list a plea. 25 of those were contested and 5 were guilty pleas, a contested share of 83%. Across the Air Force, 45% of cases were contested.
The share was 79% in 2023. For this offense, most cases are contested rather than resolved by a guilty plea.
Enlisted Panels Heard the Most Cases
The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. In 2024, enlisted panels decided 19 of these cases, officer panels decided 2, and a military judge alone decided 13. Members heard 62% of the cases, compared with 30% across all Air Force cases in 2024.
Members heard 21 of the 25 contested cases (84%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the high share heard by members follows the high contested share.
What Sentences Followed a Conviction?
All 15 convictions included confinement. Half of the terms were 2.5 years or less, and a quarter were 4.9 years or longer. For all Air Force cases, the median was 5 months.
These are adjudged sentences, meaning what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, including any other offenses.
The sentencing figures are based on only 15 convictions. Percentages such as 100% describe that small group and can change a great deal from year to year, as the comparison with 2023 below shows.
Every Enlisted Conviction Included a Punitive Discharge
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member and a dismissal for an officer. In 2024, 14 of 14 convicted enlisted members received one (100%), and 11 of those were dishonorable. The Air Force-wide rate was 62%.
The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, and that officer was dismissed. In 2023, the punitive discharge rate for this offense was 82%.
Changes From 2023 to 2024
There were 24 cases in 2023 and 34 in 2024. The median confinement was 1.2 years in 2023 and 2.5 years in 2024. Convictions with confinement were 88% in 2023 and 100% in 2024. General courts-martial were 96% of cases in 2023 and 100% in 2024. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including more than one year of confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. None of these 2024 cases was a special court-martial.
In groups this small, a few cases can produce large changes. These changes show direction, not precision.
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 24 | 34 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 79% | 83% |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 100% |
| Median confinement | 1.2 years | 2.5 years |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 82% | 100% |
| General courts-martial | 96% | 100% |
Rank of the Accused and Other Charges
The accused were 22 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 11 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. Junior enlisted members were 54% of all Air Force cases in 2024, so this group was more junior.
Article 120 was the only charge in 17 of 34 cases. When other charges were included, the most common were Article 128 (assault) and Article 128b (domestic violence), in 6 cases each. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 5, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 3, and Article 112a (drug) in 2.
Installations
Aviano AB, Italy, tried 3 of these cases. Scott AFB, Illinois, Cannon AFB, New Mexico, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and JBSA - Lackland, Texas, each tried 2. Together they account for 32% of the 34 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
New Rules and What the Records Do Not Show
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and Article 120 is a covered offense. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on the offense date, which the records do not give. Trials in 2024 therefore include cases under both the old and new rules. The median confinement was higher in the same period, but the records cannot show whether the changes caused it.
Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal, so this page reports no acquittal rate for Article 120. The records also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or allegations handled outside a court-martial.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in 2024 that charged Article 120 (34 cases), compared with all Air Force cases that year and with 2023.
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 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Air Force Article 120 Cases in 2023 (previous / next)
- Air Force Article 120 Cases in 2025 (previous / next)
- Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025 (the full trend)
- Air Force Article 120 Cases in 2018
- Air Force Article 120 Cases in 2019
- Air Force Article 120 Cases in 2022
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120 Conviction in the Air Force?
- S2 E1: Article 120 Dismissal & the Aftermath (podcast, members)
- Article 120 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025
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.