The Air Force Court-Martial Year, 2024

Trends › By Year › 2024

Based on 225 cases · 2024 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

The First Year Under the New Prosecution Rules

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.

Both rules depend on the offense date, and these records give only trial dates. The 2024 cases therefore include cases under both the old and new rules. The records cannot separate them or show whether either rule affected any figure below.

Fewer Full Acquittals Than 2023, More Than the Other Services

A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 88 contested cases with a verdict, 42 ended in a full acquittal, a rate of 48%. In the other services in 2024, the rate was 32%. In 2023, the Air Force figure was 67 of 120.

Another 6 cases were recorded as partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Air Force results list one verdict per case, so partial acquittals appear only when an appeals opinion reports them.

Fewer Cases Were Contested Than in 2023

Pleas are recorded for 195 of the 225 cases: 107 guilty pleas and 88 contested. The contested share was 45%. That is lower than the 53% in 2023 and higher than the 30% in the other services in 2024.

Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 79% of the time (33 of 42), the highest among the most common charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 17% of the time (5 of 30). The records do not give a reason for any plea.

What Was Charged

Charge lists are available for 209 of 225 cases. Every article charged in a case is counted, so the rows overlap. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 22% of cases and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 16%. In the other services in 2024, each appeared in 11%.

Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) appeared in 13% of cases, compared with 19%. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 15%, compared with 20%. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 22% of cases, about the same as the 21% in the other services.

Sentence Lengths

Confinement was part of 83% of the 174 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months in the other services in 2024. A quarter of sentences were 1.8 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Sentences longer than one year came about as often as in the other services: 49 of 174 convictions (28%), compared with 25%. No confinement was adjudged in 30 convictions (17%), compared with 18% in the other services in 2024.

Sentences for the Most Common Charges

Air Force charge lists come mainly from convictions, so the next table shows counts and median sentences, not conviction rates. Article 120 convictions had the longest median confinement among the most common charges, at 2.2 years. Article 134 convictions had a median of 1.6 years, Article 128 convictions 4 months, and Article 112a convictions 2 months.

Who Decided Guilt, and Court Levels

Of cases with a forum listed, 30% went to members: 60 enlisted panels and 8 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 157. In contested cases, members heard 68 of 88 (77%). Members returned a full acquittal 49% of the time and military judges 45% of the time. The accused usually chooses the forum, so these groups of cases are not alike.

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. General courts-martial made up 57% of the year's cases (128 of 225). At general courts-martial, 87% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. At the 97 special courts-martial, 78% did, with a median of 2 months.

Punitive Discharges, Rank, and Installations

Of 159 convicted enlisted members, 99 received a punitive discharge: 54 bad-conduct and 45 dishonorable. The share in the other services in 2024 was 66%. Of 15 convicted officers or warrant officers, 9 were dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 54% of the accused, NCOs 37%, and officers 8%. That is about the same as the 55% junior enlisted share in the other services. Minot AFB, North Dakota (10), McConnell AFB, Kansas (9), JBSA - Lackland, Texas (7), Nellis AFB, Nevada (7), and Eglin AFB, Florida (7), had the most cases. Together they account for 18% of the 225 cases.

Compared With 2023, and Limits of the Records

The number of cases was 225 in both 2023 and 2024. The contested share was 53% and then 45%. The median confinement was 5 months in both years. The enlisted punitive discharge rate was 58% and then 62%. A few cases can change figures of this size.

The records do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, or the plea terms. Air Force records never report plea agreements and rarely list charges in a full acquittal.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.