Air Force Solicitation Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences
The Air Force records hold 10 courts-martial of junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) charged with solicitation under Article 82, tried from January 2020 through September 2024. Confinement was part of 90% of the 10 convictions, and half of those terms were 1.5 years or less.
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Short answer: The Air Force records hold 10 courts-martial of junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) charged with solicitation under Article 82, tried from January 2020 through September 2024. Confinement was part of 90% of the 10 convictions, and half of those terms were 1.5 years or less. 8 of the 10 convicted members received a punitive discharge.
Discharges After Conviction
8 of the 10 convicted members received a punitive discharge. 5 were dishonorable discharges and 3 were bad-conduct discharges. In all Air Force Article 82 cases, 82% of convicted enlisted members received one.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Length of Confinement
Confinement was part of 90% of the 10 convictions. Half of those terms were 1.5 years or less. In all Air Force Article 82 cases, the median confinement was also 1.5 years.
A quarter of the confinement terms were 2.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not only the solicitation count.
Solicitation Never Stood Alone
Every one of the 10 cases included at least one other charge. Drug offenses under Article 112a appeared in 5 cases, the most of any companion charge.
The general article, Article 134, appeared in 3. Child sexual abuse under Article 120b, orders violations under Article 92, and false official statement under Article 107 each appeared in 2.
Court Level
General courts-martial heard 5 of the 10 cases (50%), compared with 55% in all Air Force Article 82 cases. Special courts-martial heard the rest. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Who Decided Guilt?
A military judge alone decided 8 cases. Members heard 20% of the cases with the forum listed, and both were enlisted panels. No officer panel heard any of these cases. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or members decide guilt.
Years and Rank
The records show 3 cases in 2020, 2 in 2021, 2 in 2022, 1 in 2023, and 2 in 2024. None appear from 2016 through 2019, and none in 2025.
All 10 accused were junior enlisted, which makes the group more junior than the accused in all Air Force Article 82 cases.
Law Changes and Gaps
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault and murder. Military judges set the sentence when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to the 2024 cases.
The records do not show pleas for these cases, the evidence, or plea terms. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list the charges in a full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal rate.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025 that charged junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) under Article 82 (10 cases), compared with every Air Force Article 82 case.
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 82 (Soliciting): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- What Happens to Navy-Marine Corps Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing Solicitation Charges?
- Navy-Marine Corps Solicitation Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences
- Army Article 82 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 82 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025
- Air Force AWOL Cases Against NCOs (E-5 to E-9): Outcomes and Sentences
- How Much Confinement for an Article 82 Conviction in the Air Force?
- 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.