> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Much Confinement for an Article 85 Conviction in the Air Force? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-85-sent-2016-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:33:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:05:07.000Z - Description: Air Force desertion convictions under Article 85 usually included short confinement and a punitive discharge. Across 23 such convictions in 2016–2025, the median confinement was 4 months, the same as all Air Force convictions. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 85, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 85](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-85-courts-martial/) › How Much Confinement for an Article 85 C **Short answer:** Air Force desertion convictions under Article 85 usually included short confinement and a punitive discharge. Across 23 such convictions in 2016–2025, the median confinement was 4 months, the same as all Air Force convictions. A punitive discharge followed 86% of enlisted convictions, compared with 56% across the Air Force. Based on 23 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Punitive Discharges Were More Common This page covers only Air Force courts-martial that ended in a conviction under Article 85, the desertion article. The largest difference from other Air Force convictions is the punitive discharge rate. A punitive discharge followed 86% of enlisted convictions: 13 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. Across all Air Force convictions in the same years, the share was 56%. For an enlisted member, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. The group included 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and both were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Confinement Was Usually Short Of the 23 convictions, 22 included confinement (96%). The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the median for all Air Force convictions. Sentences under 6 months made up 61% of these convictions, compared with 48% across the service. Only 4% included no confinement, compared with 15%. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force convictions in those years | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 1 | 4% | 15% | | Under 6 months | 14 | 61% | 48% | | 6 months to 1 year | 2 | 9% | 15% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 17% | 16% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 9% | 7% | ## Some Sentences Were Long A quarter of the sentences were 2 years or longer. Sentences of more than one year came in 6 of 23 convictions (26%), compared with 23% across Air Force convictions. Of those, 2 convictions (9%) included 5 years or more, compared with 7% across the Air Force. One sentence was confinement for life. A sentence covers every charge in a case, so a sentence of that length reflects the full case, not the desertion charge alone. ## General and Special Courts-Martial The 23 cases were 12 general courts-martial and 11 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 52%, higher than the 46% across Air Force convictions. The median confinement was 2 years at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months of confinement with no punitive discharge. Few records list the plea. Among general courts-martial with a plea listed, 1 of 4 was contested. Among special courts-martial, 0 of 5 were contested. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. ## Desertion Was Often the Only Charge Article 85 was the only charge in 11 of the 23 cases. In the other cases, the most common companion charges were Article 112a (drug offenses) in 6 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 4, Article 92 (orders violation) in 4, Article 86 (AWOL) in 3, and Article 91 (insubordination) in 2. ## Who Decided Guilt? Of the cases with a forum listed, 21 were decided by a military judge alone. Members heard 1 case, with an enlisted panel. That is 5% of the cases. The accused usually chooses the forum, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas. ## Who Was Convicted The accused were 18 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 3 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 officers or warrant officers. That mix is more junior than Air Force convictions overall, where 66% of those convicted were junior enlisted. ## Few Cases in Any Year or Installation No year had more than 5 desertion convictions. The counts were 4 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 3 in 2018, 3 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 0 in 2024, and 5 in 2025. Hurlburt Field, Florida; Travis AFB, California; Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota; and Nellis AFB, Nevada, each had 2 cases. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, had 1\. Together those 5 installations account for 39% of the cases. ## Law Changes and the Limits of the Records The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. Cases with offenses before then kept the old rules. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied to a given case. The records also do not show the length of the absence, the evidence, or any plea agreement. Air Force records never report plea agreements. Absences handled outside a court-martial do not appear. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Air Force courts-martial tried 2016–2025: ending in a conviction under Article 85 (desertion) (23 cases), compared with all Air Force convictions in those years. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 85 (Desertion): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-85-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/sentences/) (hub) - [Air Force Article 85 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-85-trend-2016-2025/) - [What Sentence Follows an Army Desertion Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-85-sent-2021-2025/) (another service) - [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Desertion Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-85-sent-2017-2025/) (another service) - [Article 118 Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-118-sent-2016-2025/) - [Article 128b Sentences in the Air Force: Confinement and Discharges, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128b-sent-2016-2025/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.