Air Force Article 92 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Air Force

Based on 354 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

About the Same Share Every Year

Convictions including Article 92 made up 16% of Air Force convictions with offenses listed in 2016, 17% in 2017, 14% in 2018, and 13% in 2019. The share was 16%, 18%, 17%, 16%, and 15% from 2020 through 2024, and 18% in 2025.

By period, Article 92 was part of 124 of 786 Air Force convictions in 2016–2018 and 81 of 494 in 2023–2025. Both are 16%. The shares use convictions with offenses listed, so years with more or fewer total cases can still be compared.

Case Counts by Year

The records show 354 cases charging Article 92 between February 2016 and December 2025. That is 13% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in those years. The yearly counts were 32 in 2016, 51 in 2017, 42 in 2018, 38 in 2019, 29 in 2020, 36 in 2021, 36 in 2022, 27 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 35 in 2025.

The highest count was in 2017, when convictions including Article 92 were also highest, at 51. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.

Usually Charged With Other Offenses

Article 92 was the only charge in 52 of the 354 cases. Article 112a (drug offenses) was charged with it in 124 cases, Article 134 (the general article) in 82, Article 128 (assault) in 63, Article 107 (false official statement) in 38, and Article 86 (absence without leave) in 31.

A court-martial sentence covers every charge the accused was convicted of. The sentence in an Article 92 case therefore often includes a drug offense, an assault, or another charge as well.

Fewer Contested Cases and Fewer Panels

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 179 records that list a plea, 127 were guilty pleas and 52 were contested. The contested share was 29%, compared with 48% across the Air Force. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea, so the share is based only on the records that list one.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 24% of cases with the forum listed: 48 officer panels and 36 enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided the other 270. Among contested cases, members heard 40 of 52 (77%).

Sentences Similar to the Air Force Median

Of 349 convictions, 284 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as for the Air Force as a whole. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 11 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

Long sentences were less common. Confinement longer than one year came in 52 of 349 convictions (15%), compared with 23% across the Air Force. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 3%, compared with 7%. No confinement was imposed in 19% of convictions, compared with 15%.

Most Were Special Courts-Martial

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial heard 220 of these cases. General courts-martial made up 38% (134 of 354).

The share of convictions with confinement was about the same at each level: 82% at general courts-martial and 81% at special courts-martial. The median confinement was 1 year at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial.

Discharges and Dismissals

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of 329 enlisted members convicted, 157 received one (48%). That is lower than the 56% across the Air Force. Of those 157, 35 were dishonorable.

The records list 20 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 9 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank and Installations

The accused included 210 junior enlisted members, 123 NCOs, and 21 officers. That mix is more senior than the rest of the Air Force.

The 5 installations with the most cases were Osan AB, South Korea (11), Hurlburt Field, Florida (10), Ramstein AB, Germany (10), Sheppard AFB, Texas (10), and JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii (9). Together they account for 14% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Law Changes and Data Gaps

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge and introduced written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Offenses after December 27, 2023, fall under new sentencing parameters. The Article 92 share was about the same before and after both changes. The records cannot show whether either change affected it.

Air Force records rarely list charges in a full acquittal, so this page gives no acquittal rate for Article 92. The records never report plea agreements. They also do not include the evidence, offense dates, or nonjudicial punishment.

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.