> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Air Force Courts-Martial, March 2021: The Month in Review - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-march-2021/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:53:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:08:20.000Z - Description: The Air Force tried 39 courts-martial in March 2021. Of 25 convicted enlisted members, 22 received a punitive discharge (88%), compared with 56% for the Air Force across 2021. Contested cases ended in a full acquittal more often than in the year overall: 62% compared with 47%. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Air Force [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › March 2021 **Short answer:** The Air Force tried 39 courts-martial in March 2021\. Of 25 convicted enlisted members, 22 received a punitive discharge (88%), compared with 56% for the Air Force across 2021\. Contested cases ended in a full acquittal more often than in the year overall: 62% compared with 47%. Based on 39 cases · March 2021 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Most Enlisted Convictions Included a Punitive Discharge Of 25 enlisted members convicted of at least one charge, 22 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. That 88% rate is higher than the 56% across the Air Force in 2021. Of those 22 discharges, 15 were bad-conduct discharges and 7 were dishonorable discharges. The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not follow. Only a general court-martial can adjudge a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. ## Most Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal Of 39 cases, 21 were contested and 18 were guilty pleas. In a contested case, the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 54%, about the same as the 51% for the year. Of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict, 13 ended with no conviction on any charge (62%). The rate across the Air Force was 47%. Another 5 ended in a partial acquittal. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it. In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another, so the case still ends in a sentence. A full acquittal ends the case with no conviction and no sentence. ## Longer Confinement Than the Year Confinement was part of 92% of the 26 convictions. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 4 months for the Air Force in 2021\. A quarter of the terms were 1.5 years or longer. Terms longer than one year came in 8 of 26 convictions (31%), compared with 23% for the Air Force. Of those, 2 were 5 years or more. Terms from 6 months to 1 year came in 7 convictions (27%), compared with 15% for the year. Only 2 convictions (8%) included no confinement. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial for every charge in the case. Clemency, an appeal, or a plea-agreement cap may shorten them. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2021 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | No confinement | 2 | 8% | 15% | | Under 6 months | 9 | 35% | 47% | | 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 27% | 15% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 23% | 17% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 8% | 6% | ## More General Courts-Martial Than the Year There were 26 general courts-martial and 13 special courts-martial. The general share was 67%, compared with 53% for the Air Force in 2021\. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.2 years, and 69% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 2 months, and 23% of cases were contested. ## Orders Violations and the General Article Charges are listed for 26 cases, and each article counts once per case. Drug charges under Article 112a were the most common, in 9 cases (35%), the same as the annual share. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 7 cases (27%), compared with 18% for the year. Article 134 (the general article) also appeared in 7 cases (27%), compared with 19%. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 5 cases (19%), lower than the 27% across the Air Force. Article 120 appeared in 4 cases (15%), and Article 120b in 3 (12%). Article 131b (obstructing justice) and Article 85 (desertion) each appeared in 2 cases, or 8%. Across the year, desertion appeared in 1% of cases. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2021 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 35% | 35% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 27% | 18% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 7 | 27% | 19% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 5 | 19% | 27% | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 15% | 11% | | [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 12% | 5% | | Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 8% | 3% | | Art. 85 Desertion | 2 | 8% | 1% | ## Who Decided Guilt? The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 26 of 39 cases (67%). Members heard 13: 10 with enlisted panels and 3 with officer panels. Members heard 13 of the 21 contested cases (62%), and a military judge alone decided the rest. Most guilty pleas go before a military judge alone, so the overall split mostly follows the number of guilty pleas. ## Rank and Installations Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 67% of the accused, about the same as the 65% for the Air Force in 2021\. NCOs made up 26%, and officers 8%. Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, tried 3 cases. Ramstein AB, Germany, Nellis AFB, Nevada, JBSA - Lackland, Texas, and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, tried 2 each. Together these installations account for 28% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every type. ## Limits of the Records The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not include the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations. Air Force records rarely list charges after a full acquittal. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in March 2021 (39 cases), compared with the whole year. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [What the Air Force Tried in February 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-february-2021/) (previous / next) - [What the Air Force Tried in April 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2021/) (previous / next) - [The Air Force Court-Martial Year, 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2021-year-in-review/) (the whole year) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2018: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2018/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2019: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2019/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2018: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-august-2018/) - [Air Force Courts-Martial, August 2020: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-august-2020/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ← Previous: [What the Air Force Tried in February 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-february-2021/)Next: [What the Air Force Tried in April 2021](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-april-2021/) → **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.