March 2022 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 32 Cases
The Air Force tried 32 courts-martial in March 2022. Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (23%), compared with 45% for the Air Force across 2022. The median confinement after conviction was 9 months, longer than the 6 months for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Air Force tried 32 courts-martial in March 2022. Of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal (23%), compared with 45% for the Air Force across 2022. The median confinement after conviction was 9 months, longer than the 6 months for the year.
Few Full Acquittals in Contested Cases
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. This month, 13 contested cases reached a verdict, and 3 ended with no conviction on any charge. That 23% full-acquittal rate is lower than the 45% across the Air Force in 2022.
Another 7 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, with the accused found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and convicted of another. Air Force results report a single verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion describes it.
More Guilty Pleas Than Contested Cases
A plea is recorded in every case: 19 accused pleaded guilty, and 13 entered not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 41%, lower than the 47% across the Air Force that year. With fewer contested cases, each verdict changes this month's rates by a larger amount.
Few Cases Went to Members
The accused usually decides whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided 27 cases, enlisted panels 4, and an officer panel 1. Members heard 16% of cases, compared with 32% across the Air Force in 2022.
Members heard 5 of the 13 contested cases (38%). A military judge alone decided the other contested cases, as well as the guilty pleas.
Longer Terms, Including More Terms of 5 Years or More
Of 29 convictions on at least one charge, 26 included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 9 months. A quarter of the terms were 2.1 years or longer.
Terms of 5 years or more came in 5 convictions, 17% of the total, compared with 7% for the year. Terms longer than one year came in 10 of 29 convictions (34%), compared with 28% across the Air Force. Terms under 6 months were 38% of convictions, compared with 46%.
These are sentences adjudged at trial for all charges in a case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 10% | 10% |
| Under 6 months | 11 | 38% | 46% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 17% | 16% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 17% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 5 | 17% | 7% |
Assault Was Charged More Often
Charges are listed for 29 of the 32 cases, and each article counts once per case. Article 128, assault, appeared in 9 of them (31%), higher than the 23% for the Air Force in 2022. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 10 (34%), about the same as the annual 33%.
Article 92, Article 120, and Article 120b each appeared in 4 cases (14%). For Article 120b, the child-offense article, the share for the year was 6%. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 3 cases (10%), lower than its 20% share for the year. Article 113 (drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle) and Article 115 (communicating threats) each appeared in 2.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 34% | 33% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 31% | 23% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 14% | 17% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 14% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 14% | 6% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 10% | 20% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 2 | 7% | 5% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 2 | 7% | 4% |
Sentences by Charge
For the 2 most common articles, the records show conviction counts and the median confinement for a conviction on that article. All 10 drug cases ended in an Article 112a conviction, with a median of 3 months. Of 9 assault cases, 8 ended in an Article 128 conviction, with a median of 2.2 years.
Air Force records list charges mainly when a conviction follows, so these figures describe sentences, not conviction rates.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 10 | 3 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 8 | 2.2 years |
Punitive Discharges and Court Level
A punitive discharge followed 71% of enlisted convictions: 12 bad-conduct and 8 dishonorable discharges. The rate for the Air Force in 2022 was 59%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
General courts-martial can impose any lawful sentence. There were 21 (66%, compared with 57% for the year), with a median confinement of 1.2 years and 48% contested. Special courts-martial are capped at one year. The 11 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 3 months, with 27% contested.
Rank, Bases, and Compared With March 2021
The accused were 22 junior enlisted members, 9 NCOs, and 1 officer. That group was more junior than the Air Force overall. Scott AFB, Illinois, JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Hill AFB, Utah, JB Andrews, Maryland, and Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, each tried 2 cases. Together they account for 31% of the month's cases.
March 2021 had 39 cases, and March 2022 had 32. The contested share went from 54% to 41%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 13 of 21 to 3 of 13. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 88% to 71%. The median confinement went from 7 months to 9 months. Small monthly groups can change with a few cases, so these comparisons show direction only.
| March 2021 | March 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 39 | 32 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 54% | 41% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 13 of 21 | 3 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 92% | 90% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 9 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 88% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 67% | 66% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The records do not include offense dates, the evidence, or plea terms. They also do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations. Air Force records rarely list charges when a case ends in a full acquittal.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in March 2022 (32 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)
- February 2022 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 21 Cases (previous / next)
- What the Air Force Tried in April 2022 (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review (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.