How Air Force General Article Cases Ended in 2019
Of 62 Air Force courts-martial charging Article 134 (general article) in 2019, 30 convictions (48%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 20% across all Air Force cases. The median term was 1.4 years, compared with 4 months service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 134 › Air Force, 2019
Short answer: Of 62 Air Force courts-martial charging Article 134 (general article) in 2019, 30 convictions (48%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 20% across all Air Force cases. The median term was 1.4 years, compared with 4 months service-wide. Of convicted enlisted members, 81% received a punitive discharge, compared with 57%.
Many Terms Were Longer Than 1 Year
In 2019, 30 of the 62 general article convictions included confinement longer than one year. That 48% share is higher than the 20% for the Air Force as a whole. Of those 30, 18 were between 1 and 5 years and 12 were 5 years or more.
Terms of 5 years or more made up 19% of these convictions, compared with 8% across the service. Terms under 6 months made up only 23%, compared with 50% across all Air Force cases.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 11% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 23% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 18% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 18 | 29% | 12% |
| 5 years or more | 12 | 19% | 8% |
The Median and What It Covers
Of 62 convictions, 55 included confinement. The median was 1.4 years, and a quarter of terms were 3.7 years or longer. For all Air Force courts-martial in 2019, the median was 4 months.
These are adjudged sentences. They are the terms announced at trial, before clemency or appeal, and they cover every charge in each case. That matters for Article 134, because most of these cases included other charges.
Other Charges in These Cases
At least one other article was charged in 44 of the 62 cases. Article 112a (drug) was the most common, in 18 cases. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 12, Article 92 (orders violation) in 8, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 7, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 5.
The records give one sentence per case, not one per charge. They cannot show what part of a term was for the general article.
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial tried 47 of the 62 cases (76%), compared with 50% across the Air Force. Only that level can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year.
Sentence lengths differed by court level. The 47 general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2.1 years. The 15 special courts-martial had a median of 4 months.
Discharges Followed Most Enlisted Convictions
Of 57 convicted enlisted members, 46 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and 26 of those were dishonorable. The 81% rate compares with 57% for all Air Force cases in 2019. Of 5 convicted officers or warrant officers, 4 were dismissed. A dishonorable discharge is available only at a general court-martial, and general courts-martial tried most cases in this group.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not prevent a later administrative separation. The records do not show administrative separations.
How 2019 Compared With 2018
The number of cases went from 77 to 62, but several sentence measures were higher. The median confinement went from 10 months to 1.4 years. The punitive discharge rate went from 73% to 81%, and the share of convictions with confinement from 84% to 89%. The general court-martial share went from 64% to 76%. These figures can change with only a few cases, so they show direction rather than a precise trend.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 77 | 62 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | — |
| Convictions with confinement | 84% | 89% |
| Median confinement | 10 months | 1.4 years |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 73% | 81% |
| General courts-martial | 64% | 76% |
Military Judge or Panel
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone heard 46 of these cases. Members heard 14: 6 enlisted panels and 8 officer panels. Members heard 23% of the cases, compared with 42% across all Air Force cases in 2019.
From 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, with confinement capped at six months and no punitive discharge. The records here do not report those trials separately.
Who Was Charged, and Where
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 66% of the accused, NCOs 26%, and officers 8%. That is about the same as the 68% junior enlisted share Air Force-wide. Beale AFB, California tried 7 cases, Cannon AFB, New Mexico 5, and Nellis AFB, Nevada 4. FE Warren AFB, Wyoming and McConnell AFB, Kansas tried 3 each. Together they account for 35% of the cases. Large bases try more cases of every kind. The rank makeup of this group is similar to the service as a whole. The sentences and court levels are where it differs.
What the Records Do Not Show
Air Force records through 2019 rarely note a guilty plea, so no contested share is given. They also rarely list charges in full acquittals, so there is no Article 134 acquittal rate. The data omits offense dates, evidence, plea terms, and cases resolved outside a court-martial.
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 2019 that charged Article 134 (62 cases), compared with all Air Force cases that year and with 2018.
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 2018 (previous / next)
- General Article at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2020: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025 (the full trend)
- Air Force Article 134 Cases in 2016
- 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.