Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 85 in the Air Force

Trends › By Offense › Article 85 › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 18 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

No Case Went to Members

A military judge alone decided guilt in 17 cases. No enlisted panel and no officer panel heard any of them, so members heard 0% of the cases. In all Air Force Article 85 cases, members heard 5%.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.

Punitive Discharges Followed Most Convictions

16 of the 18 convicted members received a punitive discharge: 12 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. In all Air Force Article 85 cases, 86% of convicted enlisted members received one.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Short Median, Long Upper End

All 18 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 17 sentences included confinement (94%). The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the median for all Air Force Article 85 cases.

The longest sentences were far above that median. A quarter of the confinement terms were 2 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Charges Filed With Article 85

Article 85 was the only charge in 6 of the 18 cases. Drug offenses under Article 112a also appeared in 6, the most of any companion charge.

Orders violations under Article 92 and the general article, Article 134, each appeared in 4 cases. AWOL under Article 86 appeared in 3, and insubordination under Article 91 in 2.

Court Level

General courts-martial heard 8 of the 18 cases (44%), and special courts-martial heard the rest. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

A Jump in 2025

From 2016 through 2024, no year had more than 2 cases: 2 in 2016, 1 in 2017, 2 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 1 in 2023, and 0 in 2024. The records then show 5 cases in 2025.

With counts this small, a few trials can change a year's total. The records do not show why the number changed.

All 18 accused were junior enlisted. In all Air Force Article 85 cases, junior enlisted members were 78% of the accused.

Law Changes and What Is Missing

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, and cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so the 2025 trials may include cases under either set of rules.

No plea counts appear for these cases. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list the charges in a full acquittal. The evidence and nonjudicial punishment are not covered.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.