December 2025 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 15 Cases
Air Force records list 15 courts-martial in December 2025. The median confinement was 9 months, compared with 6 months for the Air Force across 2025, and 54% of the cases with a plea recorded were contested, against 41% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Year › December 2025
Short answer: Air Force records list 15 courts-martial in December 2025. The median confinement was 9 months, compared with 6 months for the Air Force across 2025, and 54% of the cases with a plea recorded were contested, against 41% for the year. Assault under Article 128 was charged in 29% of cases with charges listed, against 12%.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed for 14 of the 15 cases, and a case with several articles counts under each. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 4 cases (29%), compared with 12% for the year.
Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) and Article 128b (domestic violence) each appeared in 3 cases (21%). Article 120, Article 92, Article 120b, and Article 107 each appeared in 2 cases (14%). Article 134 (general article) appeared in 1 case (7%), lower than its 23% share for the year.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 29% | 12% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 3 | 21% | 21% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 21% | 16% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 14% | 14% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 14% | 17% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 14% | 9% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 14% | 8% |
| Art. 134 General article | 1 | 7% | 23% |
Confinement and Its Length
Convictions on at least one charge came in 11 cases. Confinement was part of 10 of those 11 sentences (91%), with a median of 9 months against 6 months for the year. Terms of 1.6 years or longer made up a quarter of the confinement sentences.
All of these figures are sentences as adjudged at trial. Later plea-agreement caps, clemency, and appeals are not reflected.
Discharges and a Dismissal
Of 10 convicted enlisted members, 6 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (60%), the same rate as for the year. Of those 6, 3 were dishonorable discharges.
The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Pleas and Forum
The plea is recorded in 13 of the 15 cases: 7 contested and 6 guilty pleas. In a contested case, the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 54%, higher than the 41% for the year.
A military judge alone decided 10 of the 15 cases (67%). Members heard 5: 3 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. The accused usually chooses which of the 2 decides guilt.
Rank and Court Level
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 53% of the accused, NCOs (E-5 to E-9) 40%, and officers 7%. For the year, junior enlisted members were 60%.
General courts-martial were 9 of the 15 cases (60%), compared with 51% for the year. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Rules and Record Limits
From December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders make the decision to prosecute covered offenses, including sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For a case in which all guilty findings involve offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence using new sentencing parameters. Offense dates are missing from the records, so it is not known which rules governed each December 2025 trial.
Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and matters dropped without action fall outside these records. The evidence and plea terms are not described, and the Air Force does not report plea agreements at all.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in December 2025 (15 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)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, October 2025: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- How 2025 Went at Air Force Courts-Martial (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
- Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2022: 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.