Air Force Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review
The Air Force tried 266 courts-martial in 2022. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 33% of cases, compared with 16% in the other services in 2022. Of 124 contested cases that reached a verdict, 56 ended in a full acquittal (45%), compared with 31% in the other services.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Air Force tried 266 courts-martial in 2022. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 33% of cases, compared with 16% in the other services in 2022. Of 124 contested cases that reached a verdict, 56 ended in a full acquittal (45%), compared with 31% in the other services.
Drug Charges Were More Common
Charge lists are available for 209 of the 266 cases. Each article is counted once per case, so a single case can appear under several articles. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 33%, compared with 16% in the other services in 2022.
Some charges appeared less often in the Air Force. Article 121 (larceny) appeared in 3% of Air Force cases, compared with 7%. Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) appeared in 4%, compared with 9%. Article 128 (assault) was about the same as in the other services: 23% compared with 25%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 68 | 33% | 16% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 49 | 23% | 25% |
| Art. 134 General article | 42 | 20% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 36 | 17% | 18% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 31 | 15% | 19% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 13 | 6% | 7% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 11 | 5% | 2% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 9 | 4% | 9% |
Full Acquittals Were More Common
Of 124 contested cases that reached a verdict, 56 ended in a full acquittal (45%). The other services in 2022 recorded 31%. Another 31 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another.
The partial acquittal count may be too low. Air Force results list one verdict per case, and a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion describes it.
More Cases Were Contested
In 2022, 142 accused pleaded guilty and 124 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 47%. A case is contested when the plea is not guilty or mixed. In the other services in 2022, 34% of cases were contested.
Drug cases ended in a guilty plea most often: 78% of cases charging Article 112a (53 of 68). Cases charging Article 128 ended in a guilty plea 61% of the time (30 of 49). The records do not show the reasons for a plea.
Who Decided Guilt
A military judge alone decided 182 cases. Enlisted panels decided 60 and officer panels 24, so members heard 32% of cases. In contested cases, members heard 84 of 124 (68%).
Full acquittals came in 39 of 84 contested cases decided by members (46%) and 17 of 40 contested cases decided by a military judge alone (42%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge or a panel decides guilt, and most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas. These are different groups of cases, not a controlled comparison.
Longer Median Confinement Than in 2021
Confinement was part of 189 of 210 convictions. The median adjudged confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months in the other services in 2022. A quarter of sentences were 1.5 years or longer. Adjudged means the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. It covers every charge in the case.
Sentences longer than one year were more common than in the other services: 59 of 210 convictions (28%), compared with 24%. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year. A special court-martial is capped at one year. Only 21 convictions (10%) included no confinement, compared with 17% in the other services in 2022.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 21 | 10% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 96 | 46% | 39% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 34 | 16% | 20% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 44 | 21% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 15 | 7% | 6% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
There were 151 general courts-martial and 115 special courts-martial. At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.3 years, and 59% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 3 months, and 30% were contested. The general court-martial share was 57%, compared with 61% in the other services in 2022.
The table below gives conviction counts and median confinement for the most common charges. Air Force charge lists come mostly from convictions, so it does not show conviction rates. The 67 Article 112a convictions had a median of 3 months. The 41 Article 134 convictions had a median of 1.2 years.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 68 | 67 | 3 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 49 | 46 | 6 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 42 | 41 | 1.2 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 36 | 36 | 4 months |
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
Of 196 enlisted members convicted, 115 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (59%). Of those 115, 49 were dishonorable. That share was lower than the 70% in the other services in 2022. Of 14 convicted officers or warrant officers, 10 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Installations
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 58% of the accused, NCOs 36%, and officers 7%. In the other services in 2022, junior enlisted members made up 60%.
Minot AFB, North Dakota (10), Nellis AFB, Nevada (9), JB Charleston, South Carolina (9), JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey (9), and Hill AFB, Utah (8), tried the most cases. Together they account for 17% of the 266 cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds, so a high count alone does not mean an installation has a problem.
Changes From 2021
The number of cases was 267 in 2021 and 266 in 2022. The contested share was 51% and then 47%. Full acquittals were 65 of 137 contested cases with a verdict in 2021 and 56 of 124 in 2022. The median confinement was 4 months and then 6 months. The enlisted punitive discharge rate was 56% and then 59%. In small yearly groups, a few cases can change these figures.
These records begin at trial. They give no offense dates, evidence, or plea terms. They do not include conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Air Force records also rarely list charges when the accused was fully acquitted.
| 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 267 | 266 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 51% | 47% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 65 of 137 | 56 of 124 |
| Convictions with confinement | 85% | 90% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 56% | 59% |
| General courts-martial | 53% | 57% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every Air Force court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2022 (266 cases), compared with the other services in 2022 and with 2021.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- The Air Force Court-Martial Year, 2021 (previous / next)
- How 2023 Went at Air Force Courts-Martial (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2018: Year in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2020: Year in Review
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.