Air Force Obstruction Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 11 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Confinement for NCOs

10 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 8 of those sentences included confinement (80%). The median confinement was 1.4 years. In all Air Force Article 131b cases, the median was 9 months.

A quarter of the confinement terms were 14 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case, not only the obstruction count.

Obstruction Was Charged With Other Offenses

Article 131b was the only charge in 1 of the 11 cases. The general article, Article 134, was the most common companion, in 4 cases.

Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since), sexual assault under Article 120, and child sexual abuse under Article 120b each appeared in 2 cases. Murder under Article 118 appeared in 1.

Court Level

General courts-martial heard 9 of the 11 cases (82%), compared with 61% in all Air Force Article 131b cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial has neither limit.

Punitive Discharges Were Less Common

7 of the 10 convicted NCOs received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (70%). That is less often than the 81% in all Air Force Article 131b cases. 6 of the 7 were dishonorable discharges.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Pleas and Who Decided Guilt

10 of the 11 records list a plea: 5 guilty pleas and 5 contested cases. The contested share of 50% is higher than the 37% in all Air Force Article 131b cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.

Members heard 45% of the cases, against 30% for the offense overall. Enlisted panels heard 4 and an officer panel heard 1. A military judge alone decided 6.

A Senior Group

All 11 accused were NCOs. Across all Air Force Article 131b cases, junior enlisted members made up 67% of the accused.

The cases were spread across the years: 1 in 2019, 1 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 2 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 1 in 2025.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. That matters because the rules changed: since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023.

The records do not describe the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list the charges in a full acquittal.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial

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.