> ## 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. # Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128 in the Air Force - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-junior-enlisted/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:21.000Z - Description: The records hold 213 Air Force assault courts-martial under Article 128 against junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) from 2016–2025. Of those convicted, 67% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for all Air Force Article 128 cases. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 128, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 128](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) **Short answer:** The records hold 213 Air Force assault courts-martial under Article 128 against junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) from 2016–2025\. Of those convicted, 67% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for all Air Force Article 128 cases. Of cases with a recorded plea, 35% were contested, compared with 40%. Based on 213 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## More Punitive Discharges Than for the Offense Overall A bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge followed 67% of convictions in this group, compared with 62% for all Air Force Article 128 cases. There were 101 bad-conduct discharges and 38 dishonorable discharges. A punitive discharge is imposed by the court-martial itself. When a sentence does not include one, the member can still be separated administratively. Those separations are not in these records. ## Assault Was Usually Charged With Other Offenses Article 128 was the only charge in 77 of the 213 cases. The general article, Article 134, was the most common additional charge, in 48 cases. Orders violations under Article 92 appeared in 44. Article 120, sexual assault, appeared in 29 cases, drug charges under Article 112a in 26, and Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) in 15\. A sentence covers every charge in a case. When assault is charged with a sexual assault, both are covered by one sentence for the whole case. ## Most Convictions Included Confinement Confinement was part of 92% of the 206 convictions. The median term was 7 months, slightly longer than the 6-month median for all Air Force Article 128 cases. A quarter of terms were 1.5 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence. Terms over one year were imposed in 60 of 206 convictions (29%), the same rate as for the offense overall. Only 17 convictions (8%) included no confinement, compared with 13%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 44 convictions (21%), compared with 18%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force Article 128 cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 17 | 8% | 13% | | Under 6 months | 85 | 41% | 41% | | 6 months to 1 year | 44 | 21% | 18% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 42 | 20% | 20% | | 5 years or more | 18 | 9% | 9% | ## General Courts-Martial Tried Most Cases Of the 213 cases, 125 were tried at a general court-martial (59%), compared with 62% for all Air Force Article 128 cases. At that level, 97% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.2 years. The other 88 cases were tried at a special court-martial, which caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. At that level, 84% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 months. ## More Guilty Pleas Than Contested Cases A plea is recorded in 127 of the 213 cases, because Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. Of the 127, 83 accused pleaded guilty and 44 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 35%, slightly lower than the 40% for all Air Force Article 128 cases. ## How Guilt Was Decided The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone heard 162 cases, enlisted panels 32, and officer panels 18\. Members heard 24% of the cases, compared with 29% for the offense overall. Members heard most contested cases: 30 of the 44 (68%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the overall forum figures mostly follow how many cases were contested. An enlisted accused can ask for enlisted members on the panel. In this group, enlisted panels were more common than officer panels. ## Most Cases in 2021 The 213 cases were tried from January 2016 to December 2025\. There were 14 in 2016, 21 in 2017, 17 in 2018, and 29 in 2019\. There were 23 in 2020, 34 in 2021, and 28 in 2022\. There were 14 in 2023, 16 in 2024, and 17 in 2025. Junior enlisted members made up 64% of all Air Force Article 128 cases, so this group accounts for most of the Air Force's assault cases. The records do not show why the yearly count increased and then decreased. ## Installations With the Most Cases RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom tried 12 of these cases, the most of any installation. Holloman AFB, New Mexico tried 9\. Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and JBSA - Lackland, Texas tried 7 each, and RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom tried 6\. Together they account for 19% of the 213 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. ## Rule Changes and Record Gaps The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Assault under Article 128 is not a covered offense. Special trial counsel can, however, take a related assault along with a covered offense such as domestic violence. These rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. No acquittal rate is given, because Air Force records rarely list charges in a full acquittal. Evidence, plea terms, and nonjudicial punishment are also not in the records. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?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 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) under Article 128 (213 cases), compared with every Air Force Article 128 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 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128 in the Army](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-junior-enlisted/) - [What Happens to Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Assault Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-ncos/) - [What Happens to Army Officers Facing Assault Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-officers/) - [Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-trend-2021-2025/) - [Fewer or More? Assault Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-trend-2016-2025/) - [Article 128 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **Compare: federal court.** [Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-aggravated-assault-vs-air-force/) **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.