> ## 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. # What the Air Force Tried in January 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-january-2017/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:52:59.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T05:19:01.000Z - Description: The Air Force tried 37 courts-martial in January 2017: 25 special courts-martial and 12 general courts-martial. Of convictions, 58% included confinement of under 6 months, compared with 46% for the Air Force across 2017. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › January 2017 **Short answer:** The Air Force tried 37 courts-martial in January 2017: 25 special courts-martial and 12 general courts-martial. Of convictions, 58% included confinement of under 6 months, compared with 46% for the Air Force across 2017. Based on 37 cases · January 2017 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial General courts-martial were 32% of the month's cases, lower than the 45% for the Air Force over all of 2017\. The other 25 cases were special courts-martial. The court level limits the sentence. A special court-martial can adjudge no more than one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement. ## Sentence Ranges for the Month Of 31 convictions, 18 included confinement of under 6 months (58%). Only 1 conviction had a term from 6 months to 1 year (3%, compared with 11% for the year). No confinement was imposed in 5 convictions (16%, compared with 21%). Terms longer than one year came in 7 of 31 convictions (23%), the same as the 23% across the Air Force. Of those, 2 were 5 years or more. Confinement was part of 84% of the convictions. The median confinement was 3 months, lower than the 4-month median for 2017\. A quarter of the terms were 1.2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial for every charge of conviction and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2017 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | No confinement | 5 | 16% | 21% | | Under 6 months | 18 | 58% | 46% | | 6 months to 1 year | 1 | 3% | 11% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 16% | 14% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 6% | 8% | ## Sentences at Each Court Level At the 12 general courts-martial, 7 of 9 convictions included confinement, and the median confinement was 2 years. At the 25 special courts-martial, 86% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 2 months. The court level to which charges are referred sets the maximum confinement and the type of discharge available. That limit applies before any verdict. ## Which Articles Were Charged Charges are listed for 31 of the 37 cases, and a case with several articles is counted under each. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 55%, about the same as the 52% for the year. Other shares were close to the year. Article 134 (the general article) appeared in 19%. Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 13% each. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault), Article 121 (larceny), and Article 111 (drunken or reckless driving) appeared in 6% each. Article 112, drunk on duty, appeared in 1 case. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals. These shares therefore mostly describe cases that ended in a conviction. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2017 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 17 | 55% | 52% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 6 | 19% | 21% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 4 | 13% | 11% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 13% | 17% | | Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving | 2 | 6% | 4% | | [Art. 121](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-121/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Larceny | 2 | 6% | 6% | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 6% | 7% | | Art. 112 Drunk on duty | 1 | 3% | 1% | ## Full Acquittals Of the 37 cases, 6 ended in a full acquittal (16%), with the accused found not guilty of every charge. The Air Force rate for 2017 was 21%. This rate uses every case as its base. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea, so the number of contested cases in the month is not known. ## Punitive Discharges After Conviction Of 30 convicted enlisted members, 16 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (53%), about the same as the 51% for the year. Of the 16, 3 were dishonorable. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. The month had 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, and these records do not cover those separations. ## Forum and Rank A military judge alone decided 28 cases. Members decided 24% of cases with a forum listed: 4 with enlisted panels and 5 with officer panels. The accused usually chooses the forum. Most guilty pleas are heard by a military judge alone, so a high judge-alone count often comes with many guilty pleas. These records cannot confirm that for 2017. Of the accused, 25 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 11 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That mix is more junior than the Air Force for 2017, where 61% were junior enlisted. ## Installations, Law, and Limits Aviano AB, Italy, tried 3 cases. Scott AFB, Illinois, Nellis AFB, Nevada, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Keesler AFB, Mississippi, tried 2 each. Together these 5 bases account for 30% of the 37 cases. The trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. The earlier rules on panels, plea agreements, and special courts-martial applied. The records show trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, the evidence, or plea terms. 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 January 2017 (37 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) - [What the Air Force Tried in December 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-december-2016/) (previous / next) - [What the Air Force Tried in February 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-february-2017/) (previous / next) - [Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2017-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: [What the Air Force Tried in December 2016](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-december-2016/)Next: [What the Air Force Tried in February 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-february-2017/) → **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.