Orders Violation at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2017: The Year in Numbers

Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Air Force, 2017

Based on 51 cases · 2017 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Punitive Discharges Were Less Common Than Across the Air Force

Of 47 enlisted members convicted in orders violation cases in 2017, 21 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of those 21, 7 were dishonorable. That rate, 45%, was lower than the 51% for the Air Force as a whole. In 2016, the rate for orders violation cases was 65%.

Officers are dismissed rather than discharged. Of the 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, 2 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.

More Convictions Without Confinement

All 51 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 38 of those sentences included confinement (75%). The other 13 convictions (25%) included no confinement, compared with 21% across the Air Force.

The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months across the service. A quarter of the sentences were 1.1 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before clemency or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

Few Very Long Sentences

Confinement longer than one year came in 10 of 51 convictions (20%), compared with 23% across the Air Force. Only 1 conviction (2%) included 5 years or more, compared with 8% across the service. The other 9 were between 1 and 5 years.

Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 18% of convictions here, compared with 11% across the service. Sentences under 6 months made up 37%, compared with 46%.

General and Special Courts-Martial

There were 24 general and 27 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 47%, about the same as the 45% across the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

At general courts-martial, 71% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.2 years. At special courts-martial, 78% did, with a median of 3 months. Confinement was about as common at both levels, but sentences were longer at general courts-martial.

Other Charges in the Same Case

Article 92 was the only charge in 6 of 51 cases. The other cases included other articles: Article 134 (general article) in 19, Article 112a (drug) in 12, Article 121 (larceny) in 6, and Article 128 (assault) and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 5 each.

A single sentence covers the whole case. Every figure on this page therefore includes these companion charges.

Who Was Charged?

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 47% of the accused, NCOs 45%, and officers 8%. Across all Air Force cases in 2017, junior enlisted members made up 61%, so this group was more senior. The general court-martial share was about the same as the service figure, but the accused held higher grades.

Who Decided Guilt?

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone heard 32 of these cases. Members heard the other cases: 7 enlisted panels and 12 officer panels. That is 37% of the cases, compared with 42% across the service. Records from this period rarely list a guilty plea, so the panel share cannot be compared with how many cases were contested.

Changes Since 2016

The number of cases was 32 in 2016 and 51 in 2017. The median confinement was 11 months in 2016 and 6 months in 2017. The share of convictions with confinement was 88% in 2016 and 75% in 2017. The enlisted punitive discharge rate was 65% in 2016 and 45% in 2017. The general court-martial share was 50% in 2016 and 47% in 2017. These are small groups, so a few cases can change the figures. The changes show direction, not precise size.

Installations and Missing Data

Goodfellow AFB, Texas, JB Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Ramstein AB, Germany, Sheppard AFB, Texas, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, each tried 3 cases. Together they account for 29% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Its rules on panel size, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply. Air Force records from this period rarely list a guilty plea or the charges in a full acquittal, so no contested share or Article 92 acquittal rate is given. Offense dates, evidence, and nonjudicial punishment are not in the data.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 92 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: 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.