What the Air Force Tried in January 2024
Air Force records show 21 courts-martial in January 2024. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 5 months for the Air Force across 2024. Among convicted enlisted members, there were 6 dishonorable discharges and 4 bad-conduct discharges.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › January 2024
Short answer: Air Force records show 21 courts-martial in January 2024. The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 5 months for the Air Force across 2024. Among convicted enlisted members, there were 6 dishonorable discharges and 4 bad-conduct discharges.
How Long Was Confinement?
Of 16 convictions, 14 included confinement. The median confinement was 10 months, longer than the 5-month median for the Air Force over all of 2024. A quarter of the terms were 2.5 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial for all charges of conviction. Any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appellate relief would come later and is not shown here.
More Dishonorable Than Bad-Conduct Discharges
Of 15 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a punitive discharge: 6 dishonorable and 4 bad-conduct. Across the Air Force in 2024, 62% of enlisted convictions included a punitive discharge.
A dishonorable discharge is the most severe discharge a court-martial can give an enlisted member. Only a general court-martial can adjudge it. The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 62% of the month (13 of 21 cases), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
The accused were 10 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 10 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. Across the Air Force in 2024, 54% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this month had a more senior group.
Orders Violations, Assault, and Sexual Assault
The shares use the 17 cases with charge lists, and one case can appear under several articles. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, appeared in 35%, compared with 13% for the year.
Article 128 (assault) appeared in 24%, compared with 15% across the Air Force. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) also appeared in 24%, compared with 16%. Article 128b, domestic violence, appeared in 18%, compared with 13%. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 24%, compared with 22%.
Article 115 (communicating threats), Article 113 (drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle), and Article 86 (AWOL) each appeared in 1 case. Air Force records rarely list the charges in a full acquittal, so these shares mostly describe cases with at least one conviction.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 35% | 13% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 24% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 24% | 15% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 24% | 16% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 18% | 13% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 1 | 6% | 3% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 1 | 6% | 4% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 1 | 6% | 3% |
Pleas and Verdicts
There were 11 guilty pleas and 10 contested cases. The contested share was 48%, about the same as the 45% for the Air Force in 2024. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.
Full acquittals came in 50% of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict, about the same as the 48% for the year. Another 1 case ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge, guilty of another. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it.
A military judge alone decided 14 of 21 cases (67%). Members heard 7, all with enlisted panels. Members heard 7 of the 10 contested cases (70%). The accused usually chooses the forum.
Compared With January 2023
January 2023 had 24 cases, and January 2024 had 21. The median confinement went from 6 months to 10 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 50% to 67%. The general court-martial share went from 54% to 62%.
The contested share went from 58% to 48%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 7 of 14 to 5 of 10. Convictions with confinement went from 94% to 88%. Groups this small can change with a few cases, so these comparisons show direction, not measured trends.
| January 2023 | January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 24 | 21 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 58% | 48% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 7 of 14 | 5 of 10 |
| Convictions with confinement | 94% | 88% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 10 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 50% | 67% |
| General courts-martial | 54% | 62% |
New Rules in Effect
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters.
Both changes depend on the offense date, and the records give only trial dates. January 2024 trials therefore include cases under both old and new rules. The records cannot show whether either change affected the month's figures.
Installations and Limits of the Records
Peterson SFB, Colorado, and Ft Meade, Maryland, each tried 2 cases. Eglin AFB, Florida, JB Andrews, Maryland, and Altus AFB, Oklahoma, tried 1 each. Together these installations account for 33% of the month's cases.
The records do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, or plea terms. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals and 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 January 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)
- October 2023 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 19 Cases (previous / next)
- What the Air Force Tried in March 2024 (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.