What the Air Force Tried in January 2017
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.
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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.
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 Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 17 | 55% | 52% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 19% | 21% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 13% | 11% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 13% | 17% |
| Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving | 2 | 6% | 4% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 6% | 6% |
| Art. 120 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.
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, 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 December 2016 (previous / next)
- What the Air Force Tried in February 2017 (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review (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.