What the Air Force Tried in May 2019
The Air Force tried 30 courts-martial in May 2019. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 58% of cases with a charge list, compared with 51% for the Air Force in all of 2019. Only 4 cases ended in a full acquittal (13%).
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Short answer: The Air Force tried 30 courts-martial in May 2019. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 58% of cases with a charge list, compared with 51% for the Air Force in all of 2019. Only 4 cases ended in a full acquittal (13%). Of convicted enlisted members, 48% received a punitive discharge, lower than the 57% for the year.
Drug Charges Were the Most Common
Charges are listed for 26 of the 30 cases, and Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 15 of them. That share of 58% is higher than the 51% for the Air Force over the year.
Article 134, the general article, appeared in 6 cases (23%), the same as its annual share. Article 86, AWOL, appeared in 3 (12%), compared with 4% for the year. Article 90, willfully disobeying a superior officer, appeared in 2 (8%), compared with 2%.
Several articles appeared in 2 cases each: Article 92, Article 128 (assault), Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), and Article 107 (false official statements). Both were charged less often than across the year: assault was in 15% of cases for the year, and Article 92 was in 14%. Each article counts once per case.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 58% | 51% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 23% | 23% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 3 | 12% | 4% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 2 | 8% | 2% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 8% | 14% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 8% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 8% | 7% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 8% | 8% |
Few Acquittals
Of 30 cases, 4 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of all charges. That rate of 13% is lower than the 21% across the Air Force in 2019.
The base for this rate is every case, not only contested ones, because Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely show the plea when the accused pleaded guilty.
Sentences Were Similar to the Service as a Whole
Of 26 convictions, 22 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the Air Force median for 2019. A quarter of terms were 10 months or longer.
Most sentence ranges were close to the service figures. Terms under 6 months were part of 13 convictions (50%), the same share as for the year. No confinement was part of 4 convictions (15%), also the same as the annual figure. Sentences longer than one year were part of 5 of 26 convictions (19%), compared with 20%. Terms of 5 years or more were more common: 3 convictions (12%), compared with 8%.
All of these are adjudged sentences for every charge in a case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 15% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 50% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 15% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 8% | 12% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 12% | 8% |
Sentences at Each Court Level
Special courts-martial heard 18 cases and general courts-martial 12. The general court-martial share of 40% was lower than the 50% for the Air Force that year. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.
At the 12 general courts-martial, 7 of 8 convictions included confinement, and the median was 3 years. At the 18 special courts-martial, 83% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 46 days. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months with no punitive discharge.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge was part of 48% of enlisted convictions: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. The Air Force rate for 2019 was 57%.
The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed. A member with no punitive discharge may still face administrative separation. These records do not show administrative separations.
Most Panels Were Officer Panels
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Where the forum is listed, members decided 45% of cases: 10 officer panels and 3 enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided 16.
Records from this period rarely list guilty pleas. The records therefore cannot show how many of the judge-alone or panel cases were contested.
The Accused and the Bases
The accused included 21 junior enlisted members, 7 NCOs, and 2 officers. That mix is similar to the Air Force that year.
Five installations tried 2 cases each: Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, JB Lewis-McChord, Washington, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, Whiteman AFB, Missouri, and Cannon AFB, New Mexico. Together they accounted for 33% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not mean a base has a particular problem.
May 2018 Compared
May 2018 and May 2019 each had 30 cases. Median confinement went from 6 months to 4 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 58% to 48%. The general court-martial share went from 67% to 40%. Convictions with confinement went from 80% to 85%. A few cases can change monthly figures, so these changes show direction only.
| May 2018 | May 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 30 | 30 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | — |
| Convictions with confinement | 80% | 85% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 58% | 48% |
| General courts-martial | 67% | 40% |
Not in 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 also rarely list charges after a full acquittal and never 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 May 2019 (30 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, April 2019: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, June 2019: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Air Force Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review (the whole year)
- Air Force Courts-Martial, April 2018: 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.