> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Air Force Courts-Martial, December 2020: The Month in Review - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-december-2020/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:53:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T05:19:45.000Z - Description: The Air Force tried 23 courts-martial in December 2020. Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (73%), compared with 58% across the Air Force for all of 2020. All 15 convictions included confinement, with a median of 4 months. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › December 2020 **Short answer:** The Air Force tried 23 courts-martial in December 2020\. Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (73%), compared with 58% across the Air Force for all of 2020\. All 15 convictions included confinement, with a median of 4 months. Based on 23 cases · December 2020 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Full Acquittals Were More Common in Contested Cases A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. In December 2020, 11 cases were contested. Of those 11, 8 ended in a full acquittal, with the accused acquitted of all charges. That is a full-acquittal rate of 73%. Across the Air Force for all of 2020, the rate was 58%. No partial acquittals appear in the month's records. Air Force results report one verdict per case. A partial acquittal (not guilty of one charge, guilty of another) appears only when an appeals opinion describes it. ## Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases Every December case has a plea on record: 12 guilty pleas and 11 not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 48%, the same as the 48% for the Air Force across 2020. The month was contested about as often as the year. The difference was in how the contested cases ended. ## Orders Violations and Drug Charges Charges are listed for 15 of the 23 cases, and a case with several articles is counted under each one. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 60% of those cases. That is higher than the 51% Air Force share for 2020. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, appeared in 33% of cases, compared with 16% for the year. Article 86 (AWOL), Article 128 (assault), and Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) each appeared in 2 cases, or 13%. Article 111, Article 113, and Article 87a each appeared in 1 case. Article 111 covered drunken or reckless driving before 2019 and leaving the scene of an accident since. Article 113 has covered drunken or reckless driving since 2019\. Article 87a covers resistance, flight, or breach of arrest. Air Force records rarely list charges for a full acquittal, so these shares mostly describe cases with a conviction. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2020 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 60% | 51% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 33% | 16% | | [Art. 86](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com) AWOL | 2 | 13% | 8% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 2 | 13% | 17% | | [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 13% | 8% | | Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving before 2019, leaving the scene of an accident since | 1 | 7% | 2% | | [Art. 113](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-113/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019, drunken or reckless driving since | 1 | 7% | 4% | | Art. 87a Resistance, flight, breach of arrest | 1 | 7% | 1% | ## Confinement in Every Conviction There were 15 convictions on at least one charge, and all 15 sentences included confinement (100%). The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the 4-month median for the Air Force in 2020\. A quarter of the terms were 7 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences: the sentence imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge on which the accused was convicted. ## Sentences by Court Level The month had 12 general and 11 special courts-martial. The general share was 52%, about the same as the 51% across the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. At general courts-martial, 5 of 5 convictions included confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. At special courts-martial, 100% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 months. ## Punitive Discharges for Convicted Enlisted Members Of 15 convicted enlisted members, 7 received a punitive discharge (47%). That is slightly lower than the 50% for the Air Force in 2020\. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of the 7, 3 were dishonorable. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. These trial records do not include administrative separations. ## Compared With December 2019 December 2019 had 25 cases, and December 2020 had 23\. The median confinement was 4 months in both months. Convictions with confinement went from 80% to 100%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 56% to 47%, and the general court-martial share went from 44% to 52%. Each month has few cases, so a small number of outcomes can change these percentages. The comparison shows direction rather than a measured trend. | | December 2019 | December 2020 | | ----------------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | | Cases | 25 | 23 | | Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 48% | | Convictions with confinement | 80% | 100% | | Median confinement | 4 months | 4 months | | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 56% | 47% | | General courts-martial | 44% | 52% | ## Who Was Tried and Who Decided Guilt Of the accused, 19 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 3 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That is a more junior group than the Air Force overall in 2020, where 66% were junior enlisted. A military judge alone decided 17 cases. Members heard the other 6, or 26%: 4 with enlisted panels and 2 with officer panels. The accused usually chooses the forum. Members heard 6 of the 11 contested cases (55%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the overall split mostly follows how many cases were contested. ## Installations and What the Records Omit Ramstein AB, Germany, tried 3 cases. Fairchild AFB, Washington, Dyess AFB, Texas, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico, each tried 2, and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, tried 1\. Together these 5 bases account for 43% of the month's 23 cases. Larger bases try more cases of every kind. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations, and they do not describe the evidence or any plea terms. Air Force records do not report plea agreements. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in December 2020 (23 cases), compared with the whole year. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [November 2020 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 25 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-november-2020/) (previous / next) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, January 2021: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-january-2021/) (previous / next) - [Air Force Courts-Martial in 2020: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2020-year-in-review/) (the whole year) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2018: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2018/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2019: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2019/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2018: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-august-2018/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2020: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-august-2020/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ← Previous: [November 2020 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 25 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-november-2020/)Next: [Air Force Courts-Martial, January 2021: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-january-2021/) → **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.