What the Air Force Tried in April 2024
Air Force records list 21 courts-martial in April 2024. The median confinement was 2 months, compared with 5 months for the Air Force in 2024. Of convicted enlisted members, 47% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: Air Force records list 21 courts-martial in April 2024. The median confinement was 2 months, compared with 5 months for the Air Force in 2024. Of convicted enlisted members, 47% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for the year.
Shorter Confinement Than the Year
Of 17 convictions in April 2024, 11 included confinement. The median confinement was 2 months, lower than the 5 months across the Air Force in 2024. A quarter of the terms were 1.2 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in its case.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. In April 2024, 47% of enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge: 6 bad-conduct and 2 dishonorable. The rate for the year was 62%.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Those separations are not part of these records.
More Special Than General Courts-Martial
Of the 21 cases, 9 were general courts-martial. That is 43% of cases, compared with 57% for the year. The rest were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. In April 2023, general courts-martial were 55% of the month's cases.
Drug, Domestic Violence, and Orders Charges
Charges are listed for 18 of the 21 cases, and one case can appear under several articles. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 5 cases (28%). That is higher than the 22% for the year.
Domestic violence under Article 128b appeared in 3 cases (17%), compared with 13% for the year. Failure to obey an order or regulation under Article 92 also appeared in 3 cases (17%), compared with 13%. Larceny under Article 121 appeared in 2 cases (11%), compared with 8%.
The general article, Article 134, appeared in 1 case (6%), lower than its 22% share for the year. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 1 case (6%), compared with 15%. Article 119a, death or injury of an unborn child, appeared in 1 case.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 28% | 22% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 17% | 13% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 17% | 13% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 11% | 8% |
| Art. 134 General article | 1 | 6% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 1 | 6% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 1 | 6% | 7% |
| Art. 119a Death or injury of an unborn child | 1 | 6% | 1% |
Pleas and Full Acquittals
The plea is recorded in 19 of the 21 cases. There were 11 guilty pleas and 8 contested cases. A contested case is one in which the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 42%, compared with 45% for the year.
Of the 8 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal. In those 4 cases, the accused was found not guilty of every charge.
No Officer Panels
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 14 cases. Enlisted panels decided 7 cases, and officer panels decided none. Members heard 33% of the cases, compared with 30% for the year.
Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas. The split between judges and members therefore mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Compared With April 2023
April 2023 had 22 cases, and April 2024 had 21. The contested share was 50% in April 2023 and 42% in April 2024. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 4 of 11 to 4 of 8.
The median confinement went from 4 months to 2 months. Convictions with confinement went from 78% to 65%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 41% to 47%. The general court-martial share went from 55% to 43%. With groups this small, a few cases can change each figure, so the changes show direction more than size.
| April 2023 | April 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 22 | 21 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 50% | 42% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 4 of 11 | 4 of 8 |
| Convictions with confinement | 78% | 65% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 2 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 41% | 47% |
| General courts-martial | 55% | 43% |
No Officers Tried
The accused were 15 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 6 NCOs (E-5 to E-9). No officers or warrant officers were tried. Across the Air Force in 2024, junior enlisted members were 54% of the accused, so this month had a higher junior enlisted share.
McConnell AFB, Kansas, tried 3 cases, and Dyess AFB, Texas, tried 2. Beale AFB, California, JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and JB Charleston, South Carolina, each tried 1. Together those bases account for 38% of the month's cases.
New Rules and Missing Details
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Military judges also set the sentence when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. April 2024 trials may therefore include cases under either set of rules.
The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Air Force records do not report plea agreements.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in April 2024 (21 cases), compared with the whole year.
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)
- What the Air Force Tried in March 2024 (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, May 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- The Air Force Court-Martial Year, 2024 (the whole year)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2018: The Month in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2019: The Month in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2018: The Month in Review
- Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2020: The Month 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.