> ## 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 Has Article 91 Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-91-trend-2016-2025/ - Published: 2026-10-30T08:04:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:04:16.000Z - Description: From 2016–2025, Air Force records hold 13 courts-martial that charged Article 91 (insubordination). The median confinement was 7 months, longer than the 4 months for the Air Force as a whole. 69% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% Air Force-wide. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 91, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 91](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-91-courts-martial/) › Air Force **Short answer:** From 2016–2025, Air Force records hold 13 courts-martial that charged Article 91 (insubordination). The median confinement was 7 months, longer than the 4 months for the Air Force as a whole. 69% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% Air Force-wide. Based on 13 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Longer Confinement Than the Air Force Median All 13 sentences in these records included confinement (100%). The median term was 7 months. For all Air Force cases in those years, the median was 4 months. A quarter of the terms in these 13 cases were 1 year or longer. Each figure is an adjudged sentence, the sentence announced at trial. It comes before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and it covers every charge in the case. ## Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges 9 of the 13 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (69%). 2 of those 9 were dishonorable discharges, and the rest were bad-conduct discharges. The rate for all Air Force cases in those years was 56%. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later. These records do not track administrative separations. ## Insubordination Was Never the Only Charge None of the 13 cases charged Article 91 by itself. Article 92 (orders violation) was the most common other charge, in 6 cases. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 5\. Article 128 (assault), Article 134 (general article), and Article 86 (AWOL) each appeared in 4. ## Pleas and the Forum 10 of the 13 records list a plea: 5 guilty pleas and 5 contested cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 50%, is about the same as the 48% for the rest of the Air Force. A military judge alone decided 12 of the 13 cases. Members heard only 1 case (8%), with an enlisted panel. No officer panel appears. ## Rank and Court Level Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 92% of the accused, NCOs were 8%, and officers were 0%. Across the Air Force, junior enlisted members were 62% of the accused. 5 of the 13 cases were general courts-martial (38%). The rest were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Cases by Year The first case in these records was tried in October 2018 and the last in November 2025\. The count was 0 in 2016 and 2017, 2 in 2018, 0 in 2019 and 2020, 3 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 2 in 2025. Article 91 was part of 2 of 786 Air Force convictions in 2016–2018 (0%) and 7 of 494 in 2023–2025 (1%), a larger share. The peak yearly number of convictions including the article was 3, in 2023. Air Force convictions that included Article 91, by year: 2016 0, 2017 0, 2018 2, 2019 0, 2020 0, 2021 2, 2022 1, 2023 3, 2024 2, 2025 202016020172201802019020202202112022320232202422025 Air Force convictions that included Article 91, by year ## What Is Not in These Records Air Force records rarely list charges in cases that end in a full acquittal, so this page reports no acquittal rate for Article 91\. They never report plea agreements, and from 2016 to 2019 they rarely list a guilty plea. Insubordination handled by nonjudicial punishment does not appear. | Year | Convictions incl. Art. 91 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share | | ---- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----- | | 2016 | 0 | 205 | 0% | | 2017 | 0 | 294 | 0% | | 2018 | 2 | 287 | 1% | | 2019 | 0 | 271 | 0% | | 2020 | 0 | 186 | 0% | | 2021 | 2 | 202 | 1% | | 2022 | 1 | 208 | 0% | | 2023 | 3 | 152 | 2% | | 2024 | 2 | 173 | 1% | | 2025 | 2 | 169 | 1% | 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 that charged Article 91 (13 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year. 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 91 (Insubordinate Conduct Toward NCO): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-91-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub) - [Fewer or More? Insubordination Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-91-trend-2021-2025/) (another service) - [How Has Article 91 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-91-trend-2017-2025/) (another service) - [Air Force Article 109 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-109-trend-2016-2025/) - [Air Force Article 113 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-113-trend-2021-2025/) - [Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-115-trend-2021-2025/) - [How Much Confinement for an Article 91 Conviction in the Air Force?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-91-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.