What the Air Force Tried in June 2023
The Air Force tried 23 courts-martial in June 2023. Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (62%), compared with 56% for the Air Force across 2023. Of convicted enlisted members, 69% received a punitive discharge, compared with 58% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Air Force tried 23 courts-martial in June 2023. Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a full acquittal (62%), compared with 56% for the Air Force across 2023. Of convicted enlisted members, 69% received a punitive discharge, compared with 58% for the year.
Most Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal
Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 8 ended in a finding of not guilty on every charge. That 62% rate is higher than the 56% for the Air Force over all of 2023.
A case is contested when the accused enters a not-guilty or mixed plea to at least one charge. Another 2 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, with a conviction on some charges and an acquittal on others. Air Force results report a single verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion describes it.
Slightly More Contested Cases Than the Year
Of cases with a plea on record, 13 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 10 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 57%, slightly higher than the 53% across the Air Force that year.
A guilty plea almost always ends in a conviction. Full acquittals come from contested cases. The number of contested cases therefore affects most other figures on this page.
Drunken Driving and the General Article
Charges are listed for 15 of the 23 cases, and a case charged under several articles is counted under each. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 5 of those cases (33%), compared with 19% for the year.
Article 113, which since 2019 covers drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle, appeared in 3 cases (20%), compared with 5% for the year. Article 133, conduct unbecoming an officer, appeared in 2 cases (13%), compared with 2% across 2023.
Drug offenses under Article 112a appeared in 4 cases (27%), about the same as the annual 28%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) and Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) each appeared in 2 cases. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, also appeared in 2 cases. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 1.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 33% | 19% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 27% | 28% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 3 | 20% | 5% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 13% | 18% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 13% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 13% | 7% |
| Art. 133 Conduct unbecoming an officer | 2 | 13% | 2% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 1 | 7% | 12% |
Punitive Discharges After a Conviction
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. For an officer, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 13 convicted enlisted members, 9 received a punitive discharge (69%), more often than the 58% for the Air Force in 2023. Of those 9, 5 were dishonorable discharges.
Both of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Confinement Terms
There were 15 convictions on at least one charge, and 13 of those sentences included confinement (87%). The median confinement was 5 months, the same as the Air Force median for the year. A quarter of the terms were 2.6 years or longer.
These figures are sentences as announced at trial. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or an appeal can change the time actually served. Each sentence covers every charge in its case.
Members Heard Most Contested Cases
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. In June 2023, a military judge alone decided 13 cases, enlisted panels 7, and officer panels 3. Members heard 43% of cases overall, about the same as the 40% for the year.
Members heard 10 of the 13 contested cases (77%). Most guilty pleas go before a military judge alone, so the overall split mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Rank and Court Level
The accused were 14 junior enlisted members, 7 NCOs, and 2 officers. That mix was similar to the Air Force as a whole that year. General courts-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge or dismissal, and there were 15. Special courts-martial are capped at one year of confinement, and there were 8. The general share was 65%, compared with 59% for 2023.
No installation tried more than 2 of these cases. Moody AFB, Georgia, JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, each tried 2. MacDill AFB, Florida, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico, tried 1 each. Together those installations account for 35% of the month's cases.
Compared With June 2022
June 2022 had 28 cases, and June 2023 had 23. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 9 of 15 to 8 of 13. The contested share went from 54% to 57%. The median confinement was 5 months in both months.
Convictions with confinement went from 100% to 87%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 58% to 69%. The general court-martial share went from 50% to 65%. With groups this small, a few cases can change these figures, so they show direction more than precise change.
| June 2022 | June 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 28 | 23 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 54% | 57% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 9 of 15 | 8 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 87% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 5 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 58% | 69% |
| General courts-martial | 50% | 65% |
What the Records Leave Out
These records show courtroom outcomes only. Cases resolved through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action do not appear. The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Air Force records also rarely list charges after a full acquittal 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 June 2023 (23 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)
- May 2023 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 21 Cases (previous / next)
- August 2023 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 17 Cases (previous / next)
- How 2023 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
- 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.