Air Force Courts-Martial, June 2025: The Month in Review
Air Force records show 23 courts-martial in June 2025. Of cases with a recorded plea, 29% were contested, compared with 41% for the Air Force across 2025. Of convicted enlisted members, 53% received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: Air Force records show 23 courts-martial in June 2025. Of cases with a recorded plea, 29% were contested, compared with 41% for the Air Force across 2025. Of convicted enlisted members, 53% received a punitive discharge, compared with 60% for the year.
Fewer Contested Cases Than the Year
Plea information appears in 17 of the 23 records, and 12 of those were guilty pleas. The other 5 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, and the government must then prove it.
The contested share was 29%, lower than the 41% across the Air Force in 2025. Of the 5 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal.
Larceny and Other Sexual Misconduct Were More Common
Charges are listed for 22 of the 23 cases, and an article is counted once per case. Article 121, larceny, appeared in 3 cases (14%), compared with 5% for the year. Article 120c, other sexual misconduct, appeared in 2 cases (9%), compared with 3%.
Article 134, the general article, was the most common charge, in 5 cases (23%), the same as its annual share. Domestic violence under Article 128b appeared in 4 cases (18%), about the same as the 16% for 2025. Article 112a drug charges appeared in 3 cases (14%), lower than the 21% for the year. Article 92 also appeared in 3 cases.
Rape and sexual assault under Article 120 appeared in 2 cases (9%), lower than its annual share of 14%. Assault under Article 128 also appeared in 2 cases (9%), lower than its annual share of 12%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 23% | 23% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 18% | 16% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 14% | 17% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 3 | 14% | 21% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 14% | 5% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 9% | 14% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 9% | 12% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 2 | 9% | 3% |
No Sentence of 5 Years or More
Of 20 convictions, 16 included confinement (80%). The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the Air Force median for 2025. A quarter of the terms were 1 year or longer.
Terms longer than one year came in 3 of 20 convictions (15%), compared with 27% across the Air Force. No conviction included 5 years or more. Across the Air Force that year, 11% of convictions did. Terms under 6 months were the most common, in 8 convictions (40%).
These are sentences as adjudged at trial, covering every charge. They come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 20% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 40% | 43% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 25% | 18% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 15% | 15% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 11% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year. This month had 12 general courts-martial (52%, compared with 51% for the year) and 11 special courts-martial.
The median confinement was 8 months at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial. Contested pleas were recorded in 3 of 9 general cases and 2 of 8 special cases with a plea listed.
Punitive Discharges
A bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge followed 53% of enlisted convictions: 5 bad-conduct and 5 dishonorable. The Air Force rate for 2025 was 60%. The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Administrative separations are not in these records.
Most Cases Were Decided Without a Panel
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. The forum is listed in all 23 cases. A military judge alone decided 18 (78%). Members heard the other 5, all with enlisted panels.
Most guilty pleas go before a military judge alone, so this split follows the number of guilty pleas.
Rank and Installations
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 61% of the accused, NCOs 35%, and officers 4%. Across the Air Force in 2025, junior enlisted members were 60%.
Fairchild AFB, Washington, Keesler AFB, Mississippi, Scott AFB, Illinois, Robins AFB, Georgia, and Kadena AB, Japan, each tried 2 cases. Together they account for 43% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of all kinds, so these counts show little about any one base.
Compared With June 2024
June 2024 had 24 cases, and June 2025 had 23. The contested share went from 50% to 29%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 5 of 11 to 1 of 5. The median confinement went from 1 year to 6 months.
Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 73% to 53%. General courts-martial went from 83% to 52% of cases. Convictions with confinement went from 68% to 80%. Groups this small can change with a few cases, so the comparison shows direction only.
| June 2024 | June 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 24 | 23 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 50% | 29% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 5 of 11 | 1 of 5 |
| Convictions with confinement | 68% | 80% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 73% | 53% |
| General courts-martial | 83% | 52% |
Rule Changes and Limits of the Records
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Military judges set sentences within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They cannot separate old-rule cases from new-rule cases or show whether the changes affected any figure. 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 2025 (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)
- What the Air Force Tried in May 2025 (previous / next)
- July 2025 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 21 Cases (previous / next)
- How 2025 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.