> ## 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 Sentence Follows an Air Force Assault Conviction? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-sent-2016-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:50:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:48.000Z - Description: Air Force assault convictions under Article 128 had longer sentences than the service average in 2016–2025. Across 311 cases, the median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months for all Air Force convictions. - 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/) › What Sentence Follows a Air Force assaul **Short answer:** Air Force assault convictions under Article 128 had longer sentences than the service average in 2016–2025\. Across 311 cases, the median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months for all Air Force convictions. Of convicted enlisted members, 61% received a punitive discharge, compared with 56%. Based on 311 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## More Long Sentences Sentences above one year were imposed in 88 of the 311 assault convictions (28%). Across all Air Force convictions in the same years, the share was 23%. Of those 88, 61 were more than 1 year but under 5 years (20%, compared with 16%). The other 27 were 5 years or more (9%, compared with 7%). The records include 1 life sentence. Sentences under 6 months made up 41% of convictions, lower than the service-wide 48%. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force convictions in those years | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 39 | 13% | 15% | | Under 6 months | 129 | 41% | 48% | | 6 months to 1 year | 55 | 18% | 15% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 61 | 20% | 16% | | 5 years or more | 27 | 9% | 7% | ## Median and Upper Quarter Confinement was adjudged in 87% of the 311 convictions, and 39 convictions (13%) had none. The median confinement term was 6 months. A quarter of terms were 1.5 years or longer. These figures are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. That matters for assault, because the article was often charged with other offenses. ## Other Charges in Assault Cases Article 128 was the only charge in 120 of the 311 cases. In the other cases, the most common additional charges were Article 134 (general article) in 71 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) in 62, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 38, Article 112a (drug) in 30, and Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) in 18. When an assault charge is filed with a sexual assault or domestic violence charge, both can describe parts of the same incident. One sentence covers them together. ## More General Courts-Martial General courts-martial heard 188 of the 311 cases (60%), compared with 46% across Air Force convictions. 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 cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. At general courts-martial, 91% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.2 years. At the 123 special courts-martial, 82% did, with a median of 3 months. ## How Often Was a Punitive Discharge Imposed? Of 293 convicted enlisted members, 179 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (61%). Of those, 55 were dishonorable discharges. Across Air Force convictions, the punitive discharge share was 56%. The group included 18 officers or warrant officers, and 9 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Pleas and Forum Plea data appears in 182 of the 311 records: 120 guilty pleas and 62 contested cases. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 34%, slightly higher than the 31% across Air Force convictions. Of the 62 contested cases, 23 ended in a partial acquittal (37%): the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Of the cases with the forum listed, 227 were decided by a military judge alone. Members heard 27%: 47 enlisted panels and 35 officer panels. Members heard 42 of the 62 contested cases (68%). The accused usually chooses the forum, and judge-alone cases are mostly guilty pleas. ## Rank, Years, and Bases By rank, 201 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 92 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 18 were officers or warrant officers. That rank makeup is similar to Air Force convictions as a whole, where 66% were junior enlisted. Yearly totals were 23 in 2016, 31 in 2017, 29 in 2018, 39 in 2019, 31 in 2020, 55 in 2021, 46 in 2022, 16 in 2023, 21 in 2024, and 20 in 2025\. RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom had the most cases, with 12\. JBSA - Lackland, Texas had 11, Hill AFB, Utah 10, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona 10, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico 9\. Together these account for 17% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. ## Rule Changes and Record Gaps Article 128 is not a covered offense under the special trial counsel system that began on December 28, 2023\. Special trial counsel who take a covered offense such as domestic violence can also take a related assault. The newer sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023\. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to a given trial. Air Force records rarely list charges in a full acquittal, so no acquittal rate for assault appears here. The records also omit the evidence and plea terms, never report plea agreements, and exclude nonjudicial punishment. 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: ending in a conviction under Article 128 (assault) (311 cases), compared with all Air Force convictions in those years. 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) - [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub) - [Fewer or More? Assault Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-trend-2016-2025/) - [Pleading Guilty to Article 128 in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-plea-2016-2025/) - [Article 128 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-sent-2021-2025/) (another service) - [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Assault Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-sent-2017-2025/) (another service) - [Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-118-sent-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.