> ## 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. # What Happens to Air Force NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120c-ncos/ - Published: 2026-10-30T08:13:44.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:13:44.000Z - Description: The Air Force records list 21 courts-martial of NCOs (E-5 to E-9) charged with indecent recording and exposure under Article 120c, from March 2017 to June 2025. 55% of the cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 35% in all Air Force Article 120c cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 120c, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 120c](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-120c-courts-martial/) › NCOs (E-5 to E-9) **Short answer:** The Air Force records list 21 courts-martial of NCOs (E-5 to E-9) charged with indecent recording and exposure under Article 120c, from March 2017 to June 2025\. 55% of the cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 35% in all Air Force Article 120c cases. The median confinement was 1 year, shorter than the 1.6 years for the offense overall. Based on 21 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## NCOs Contested More Often 11 of the 21 records list a plea. Of those, 6 accused contested at least one charge and 5 pleaded guilty. The contested share was 55%, against 35% in all Air Force Article 120c cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a full not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea, so the plea counts are incomplete. ## Almost All Were General Courts-Martial General courts-martial heard 19 of the 21 cases (90%). Special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial can adjudge any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement. All 21 accused were NCOs, which makes this group more senior than the accused in all Air Force Article 120c cases. ## Fewer Sentences Over One Year 21 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 19 sentences included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 1.6 years in all Air Force Article 120c cases. Sentences longer than one year were less common here: 9 of 21 convictions (43%), against 54% for the offense overall. The largest group, 7 convictions (33%), was 6 months to 1 year. At the top, 5 convictions (24%) carried 5 years or more, close to the 25% for all Air Force Article 120c cases. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force Article 120c cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 2 | 10% | 9% | | Under 6 months | 3 | 14% | 12% | | 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 33% | 25% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 19% | 29% | | 5 years or more | 5 | 24% | 25% | ## Punitive Discharges Split Evenly 16 of the 21 convicted NCOs received a punitive discharge: 8 bad-conduct discharges and 8 dishonorable discharges. In all Air Force Article 120c cases, 79% of convicted enlisted members received one. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Members Decided Guilt in 45% of Cases Members heard 45% of the cases with the forum listed: 5 enlisted panels and 4 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 11\. The accused usually makes this choice. ## Companion Charges Article 120c was the only charge in 10 of the 21 cases. The general article, Article 134, was the most common companion, in 7 cases. Sexual assault under Article 120 appeared in 4, orders violations under Article 92 in 3, and child sexual abuse (Article 120b) and assault (Article 128) in 2 each. Each sentence covers all the charges in the case. ## Installations and Years JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and Ramstein AB, Germany, each tried 2 cases. Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, JB Andrews, Maryland, and Maxwell AFB, Alabama, each tried 1\. These 5 installations account for 33% of the 21 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. By year, the counts were 5 in 2017, 3 in 2018, 1 in 2019, 1 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 2 in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. ## Rules That Changed and Records That Are Silent Article 120c is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute it. Earlier, the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, with fixed panel sizes and written plea agreements. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules governed each case. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list the charges in a full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal rate. The evidence is not described. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 120c on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120c/?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 2016–2025 that charged NCOs (E-5 to E-9) under Article 120c (21 cases), compared with every Air Force Article 120c case. 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 120c (Other Sexual Misconduct): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-120c-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Indecent Recording And Exposure Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120c-junior-enlisted/) - [What Happens to Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120c-ncos/) - [Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 120c in the Air Force](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120c-junior-enlisted/) - [Fewer or More? Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120c-trend-2021-2025/) - [Fewer or More? Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120c-trend-2016-2025/) - [Article 120c explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120c/?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.