Air Force Article 131b Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Air Force

Based on 33 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Sentences Than the Air Force Average

Obstruction cases included more confinement than the typical Air Force court-martial. Of 31 cases ending in a conviction on at least one charge, 27 included confinement (87%). The median term was 9 months. Across all Air Force cases in the same years, the median was 4 months.

The largest difference was in the middle of the range. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 35% of convictions here, compared with 15% in the rest of the Air Force. Terms under 6 months made up 26%, compared with 48%. Terms of 5 years or more were imposed in 5 convictions (16%), compared with 7% elsewhere. A quarter of all sentences in this group were 2.2 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, as imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each one covers every charge in the case.

More Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. One followed 81% of enlisted convictions here: 13 bad-conduct discharges and 12 dishonorable. Across the Air Force as a whole, the figure was 56%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Other Charges in Obstruction Cases

Only 4 of the 33 cases charged Article 131b alone. Article 134 (the general article) and Article 112a (drug) each appeared with it in 9 cases. Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 7, and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 5.

A sentence covers every charge. The confinement and discharge figures above therefore cannot be attributed to the obstruction charge alone. The other offenses, including sexual assault, are part of what each sentence covers.

No Cases Before Late 2019

The period begins in 2016, but the records show no cases in 2016, 2017, or 2018. The first 2 cases were in 2019, beginning in December. There were 6 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 7 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 2 in 2025. The 33 cases are 1% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in the period.

Convictions including Article 131b were highest in 2021, at 7. That year they made up 3% of Air Force convictions with offenses listed. In 2023–2025, the offense was part of 8 of 494 convictions (2%). Shares are measured against convictions with offenses listed so that years of different size can be compared.

Pleas, Panels, and Court Levels

Of the 30 records listing a plea, 19 show a guilty plea and 11 a contested case, meaning a not-guilty plea to at least one charge. The contested share was 37%, lower than the 48% Air Force-wide.

The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. A military judge alone decided guilt in 23 of 33 cases (70%). Members heard 10: 9 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. Members heard 9 of the 11 contested cases (82%).

General courts-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. They made up 61% of these cases (20 of 33). Their convictions included confinement 89% of the time, with a median of 1.5 years. Special courts-martial are capped at one year of confinement. They tried 13 cases, and 85% of their convictions included confinement, with a median of 5 months.

Who Was Charged

Of the accused, 22 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) and 11 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9). No officers or warrant officers appear. Across all Air Force cases, 62% were junior enlisted, so this group is more junior than the service as a whole.

Locations

No base had more than 2 cases. JB Andrews, Maryland; Spangdahlem AB, Germany; Ramstein AB, Germany; Creech AFB, Nevada; and Fairchild AFB, Washington each had 2 cases. Together they account for 30% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts say little about any single base.

Rule Changes and Record Gaps

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. These rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not include.

Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case ending in full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal rate for the offense. They also never report plea agreements, and from 2016 to 2019 they rarely list a guilty plea. Evidence, plea terms, and matters handled outside a court-martial are not part of the record.

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.