Pleading Guilty to Article 131b in the Air Force: What Sentences Followed?

Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Pleading Guilty to Article 131b in the A

Based on 19 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Median Confinement of 10 Months

Of the 19 convictions, 18 included confinement. The median confinement was 10 months. Across all Air Force guilty pleas in the same years, the median was 4 months.

Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 2 years or longer. All figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case, so it reflects the full set of offenses, not Article 131b alone.

Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges

A punitive discharge followed 84% of enlisted convictions in this group. The split was even: 8 bad-conduct discharges and 8 dishonorable discharges. For all Air Force guilty pleas in those years, the punitive discharge rate was 60%.

A dishonorable discharge is available only at a general court-martial. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Court Level and Rank

10 of the 19 cases were general courts-martial (53%). The share for all Air Force guilty pleas in those years was 43%. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

By rank, 14 of the accused were junior enlisted, 5 were NCOs, and 0 were officers. This group was more junior than all Air Force guilty pleas in those years. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided guilt in all 19 cases.

Charges That Came With Article 131b

Article 131b was charged by itself in 2 of the 19 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was the most frequent companion, in 7 cases, followed by Article 112a (drug) in 6.

Article 128 (assault) and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 5 cases. Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) appeared in 4.

Cases by Year

The 19 trials took place from March 2020 to March 2025. The yearly counts were 4 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 1 in 2025. Article 131b has been numbered since 2019, and Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. No cases appear from those years.

The Law Over This Period

Law changes bracket this period. The Military Justice Act of 2016 became effective on January 1, 2019, bringing written plea agreements, set panel sizes, and a judge-alone special court-martial that cannot impose more than six months of confinement or any punitive discharge.

Then, from December 28, 2023, the decision to prosecute murder, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other covered offenses moved to special trial counsel. Judge sentencing within the new parameters covers cases whose guilty findings all involve offenses after December 27, 2023. Offense dates are not recorded, so it is unknown which of the later trials used the new rules.

What the Records Leave Out

The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and Air Force records never report plea agreements. Misconduct handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action does not appear in these counts.

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.