How Air Force General Article Cases Ended in 2017
The Air Force tried 62 courts-martial charging Article 134 (general article) in 2017. The median confinement was 1 year, the same as in 2016, compared with 4 months across all Air Force cases.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 134 › Air Force, 2017
Short answer: The Air Force tried 62 courts-martial charging Article 134 (general article) in 2017. The median confinement was 1 year, the same as in 2016, compared with 4 months across all Air Force cases. Sentences of 5 years or more were imposed in 10 convictions (16%), compared with 8% across the service.
More Long Sentences
The largest difference in the 2017 general article cases was in long sentences. In all, 10 convictions, or 16% of the total, included 5 years or more of confinement. Across the whole Air Force in 2017, that band made up 8% of convictions.
Sentences longer than one year were imposed in 26 of 62 convictions (42%), compared with 23% service-wide. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 26% here and 14% Air Force-wide.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 8 | 13% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 20 | 32% | 46% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 13% | 11% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 16 | 26% | 14% |
| 5 years or more | 10 | 16% | 8% |
Shorter Sentences
Confinement was part of 87% of the 62 convictions, with a median of 1 year. The Air Force median that year was 4 months. Terms under 6 months made up 20 convictions (32%), lower than the 46% across the service. No confinement was imposed in 8 convictions (13%), compared with 21%.
All of these are adjudged sentences. They were set at trial, before clemency or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case, not the Article 134 charge alone.
General Versus Special Courts-Martial
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year. General courts-martial made up 65% of these cases (40 of 62), and their median confinement was 2 years. The 22 special courts-martial had a median of 2 months.
The difference between these cases and the service average therefore comes mostly from general courts-martial, which have no one-year cap.
What Other Charges Were in These Cases?
Article 134 was the only charge in 10 of 62 cases. The other cases included Article 92 (orders violation) in 19, Article 112a (drug) and Article 128 (assault) in 10 each, and Article 120 (sexual assault) and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 6 each.
With so many other charges, the sentence in a case often reflects those charges as much as the general article.
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. Of 55 convicted enlisted members, 35 received one: 19 bad-conduct and 16 dishonorable. Across all Air Force cases in 2017, the share was 51%. For officers, the equivalent is dismissal. Of the 7 convicted officers or warrant officers, 4 were dismissed.
Administrative separation can still follow a sentence without a punitive discharge. Those separations do not appear here.
Compared With 2016
The number of cases went from 55 to 62. The median term was 1 year in both years, and the share of convictions with confinement was 87% in both years. The enlisted punitive discharge rate went from 71% to 64%. The general court-martial share was 64% and then 65%, about the same. In groups this size, small changes reflect a few cases.
| 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 55 | 62 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | — |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 87% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 71% | 64% |
| General courts-martial | 64% | 65% |
Most Cases Had No Panel
The accused usually chooses between a military judge alone and a panel of members. A military judge alone heard 44 of these cases. Members heard the others: 6 by enlisted panels and 11 by officer panels. That is 28% of the cases, compared with 42% across the Air Force in 2017.
In later years, judge-alone cases are mostly guilty pleas and panels mostly hear contested cases. Air Force records from this period rarely note a guilty plea, so the link between plea and forum cannot be checked for these 62 cases. The lower panel share describes the forum only.
Rank and Location of the Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 53% of the accused, NCOs 35%, and officers 11%. Across all Air Force cases in 2017, junior enlisted members made up 61%.
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona tried 4 cases and Ramstein AB, Germany tried 3. Peterson SFB, Colorado; Aviano AB, Italy; and Nellis AFB, Nevada each had 2. These five account for only 21% of the cases. The other cases were tried at many other bases. Larger bases try more cases of every kind.
Rules at the Time, and Gaps in the Records
These trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months, and written plea agreements all came later.
Air Force records in this period rarely list a guilty plea or the charges in a full acquittal. This page therefore gives no contested share and no Article 134 acquittal rate. Offense dates, evidence, and nonjudicial punishment are also not in the data.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 134 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in 2017 that charged Article 134 (62 cases), compared with all Air Force cases that year and with 2016.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 134 (General Article): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases in 2016 (previous / next)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases in 2018 (previous / next)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025 (the full trend)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases in 2021
- Air Force Article 134 Cases in 2022
- What Sentence Follows an Air Force General Article Conviction?
- Article 134 explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.