Air Force Article 128b Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 128b › Air Force

Based on 113 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Newer Offense With a Larger Share

Article 128b applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Domestic violence before then was charged under other articles. For that reason, the Air Force records show 0 cases in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and the first case in July 2019.

There were 9 cases in 2020, 10 in 2021, 9 in 2022, 22 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 34 in 2025. In all, the 113 cases make up 4% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial from 2016 to 2025.

The share of convictions also increased. In 2016–2018, Article 128b was part of 0 of 786 Air Force convictions with offenses listed. In 2023–2025, it was part of 68 of 494 (14%). Shares of convictions keep years with larger or smaller overall caseloads comparable.

The Yearly Share of Convictions

The share of Air Force convictions that included Article 128b was 0% through 2019. It was 5% in 2020 and 2021 and 4% in 2022. It was 13% in 2023, 12% in 2024, and 17% in 2025.

Trial years are not offense years. A case tried in 2024 may involve conduct from several years earlier, because the records give trial dates only.

Longer Sentences Than the Air Force Average

Confinement was part of 97% of the 98 convictions. The median term was 9 months, compared with 4 months across all Air Force cases in those years. A quarter of the sentences were 1.6 years or longer.

Terms longer than one year were more common than across all Air Force cases: 33 of 98 convictions (34%), compared with 23%. Only 3% of convictions here included no confinement, compared with 15% service-wide. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

General Courts-Martial Tried Most Cases

General courts-martial made up 63% of these cases (71 of 113), and special courts-martial the other 42. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement.

Results differed by court level. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.5 years, and 54% of their cases were contested. Special courts-martial had a median of 4 months, and 21% were contested.

Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 67% of enlisted convictions: 40 bad-conduct discharges and 21 dishonorable discharges. In the rest of the Air Force, the share was 56%.

Of officers and warrant officers, 7 were convicted and 6 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Pleas and the Choice of Military Judge or Panel

Of the 103 records that list a plea, 60 were guilty pleas and 43 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 42%, lower than the 48% across the Air Force. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.

A military judge alone decided guilt in 82 of 113 cases (73%). Members heard 31: 22 enlisted panels and 9 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 31 of 43 (72%). The accused usually makes this choice, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas.

Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in full acquittal. An acquittal rate for this one offense would therefore undercount, and this page does not report one.

Other Charges, Rank, and Location

In 71 of the 113 cases, at least one other article was charged. The most common were Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) in 20, Article 128 (assault) in 19, Article 134 (the general article) in 16, Article 92 (orders violation) in 16, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 13.

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 58% of the accused, compared with 62% across all Air Force cases. NCOs made up 35% and officers 8%.

Minot AFB, North Dakota tried the most of these cases, with 6. Misawa AB, Japan and JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii tried 5 each. Offutt AFB, Nebraska and Tinker AFB, Oklahoma tried 4 each. Those 5 installations account for 21% of the total. Larger bases try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone says little about any one base.

Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

Article 128b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. These rules depend on offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include both old-rule and new-rule cases. The records cannot show whether the changes affected any number here.

The records also leave out the evidence, plea terms, and cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.