June 2024 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 24 Cases
The Air Force tried 24 courts-martial in June 2024. The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 5 months for the Air Force across 2024. Of convicted enlisted members, 73% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Air Force tried 24 courts-martial in June 2024. The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 5 months for the Air Force across 2024. Of convicted enlisted members, 73% received a punitive discharge, compared with 62% for the year.
Longer Confinement Than the Year
Confinement was part of 68% of the 19 convictions. The median confinement was 1 year. Across the Air Force in 2024, the median was 5 months.
A quarter of the confinement terms were 2.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences: the terms announced at trial for every charge in the case. A plea-agreement cap, clemency, or an appeal can reduce the time served later.
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
Of the 24 cases, 20 were general courts-martial (83%), and the rest were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.
The accused were 13 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 6 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 5 officers or warrant officers. That mix was similar to the Air Force overall, where 54% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Punitive Discharges and Dismissals
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or a dishonorable discharge. Of 15 convicted enlisted members, 11 received one: 6 bad-conduct and 5 dishonorable. The Air Force share for 2024 was 62%.
Of the 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, 3 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Pleas and Verdicts
Of the 24 records, 22 list a plea. There were 11 not-guilty or mixed pleas, which count as contested, and 11 guilty pleas. The contested share was 50%, compared with 45% across the Air Force that year.
Full acquittals came in 5 of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict (45%), about the same as the 48% for the Air Force in 2024. No partial acquittals were recorded. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Drug and General Article Charges
Charges are listed for 23 of the 24 cases, and each article is counted once in any case that names it. Article 112a, which covers wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 6 cases (26%). Article 134, the general article, also appeared in 6 cases (26%). Each share is higher than the 22% for that article across the Air Force in 2024.
Assault under Article 128 appeared in 3 cases (13%), and domestic violence under Article 128b also appeared in 3 (13%). Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 2 cases, or 9%, lower than its 16% annual share. Article 120b also appeared in 2 cases. Article 131b, obstructing justice, appeared in 1.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 26% | 22% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 26% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 13% | 15% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 13% | 13% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 9% | 13% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 9% | 7% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 9% | 16% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 1 | 4% | 2% |
Who Decided Guilt?
The accused usually decides whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 16 cases, enlisted panels 7, and an officer panel 1. Members decided 33% of all cases, about the same as the 30% for the year.
Members heard 8 of the 11 contested cases (73%). Most guilty pleas go to a military judge alone, so the split follows the number of contested cases.
Compared With June 2023
June 2023 had 23 cases, and June 2024 had 24. The contested share went from 57% to 50%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 8 of 13 to 5 of 11.
The median confinement went from 5 months to 1 year. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 69% to 73%. General courts-martial went from 65% to 83% of cases. Convictions with confinement went from 87% to 68%. Monthly groups are small enough that a few cases can produce changes this large.
| June 2023 | June 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 23 | 24 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 57% | 50% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 8 of 13 | 5 of 11 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 68% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 69% | 73% |
| General courts-martial | 65% | 83% |
Where the Cases Were Tried
JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, Cannon AFB, New Mexico, and JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, each tried 2 cases. JBSA - Randolph, Texas, tried 1. Together these installations account for 38% of the month's cases. Larger bases try more cases of every kind.
New Rules and Limits of the Records
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 is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. Cases from 2024 therefore include cases under both old and new rules, and the records cannot show whether either change affected these results.
The records also do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, 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 June 2024 (24 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, May 2024: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, July 2024: The Month in Review (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.