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# October 2017 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 30 Cases
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-october-2017/
- Published: 2026-10-28T08:12:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:19:09.000Z
- Description: The Air Force tried 30 courts-martial in October 2017. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months for the Air Force in all of 2017. Of convicted enlisted members, 42% received a punitive discharge, compared with 51% for the year.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Air Force

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) › October 2017

**Short answer:** The Air Force tried 30 courts-martial in October 2017\. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months for the Air Force in all of 2017\. Of convicted enlisted members, 42% received a punitive discharge, compared with 51% for the year.

Based on 30 cases · October 2017 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Middle-Length Terms Were More Common

Of 24 convictions, 17 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, longer than the 4 months for the Air Force in 2017\. A quarter of terms were 1 year or longer.

Terms of 6 months to 1 year were part of 5 convictions (21%), compared with 11% for the year. Terms of more than one year were less common: 4 of 24 convictions (17%), compared with 23%. Of those, 2 were 5 years or more.

No confinement was part of 7 convictions (29%), compared with 21% service-wide. Each figure is the sentence adjudged at trial for every charge, before clemency, appeal, or a plea-agreement cap.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2017 |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ |
| No confinement                  | 7           | 29%        | 21%                                  |
| Under 6 months                  | 8           | 33%        | 46%                                  |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 5           | 21%        | 11%                                  |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2           | 8%         | 14%                                  |
| 5 years or more                 | 2           | 8%         | 8%                                   |

## Fewer Punitive Discharges

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of 24 convicted enlisted members, 10 received one (42%), lower than the 51% for the Air Force over the year. Of the 10, 3 were dishonorable discharges.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.

## All of the Accused Were Enlisted

No officers or warrant officers appear among the accused. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and NCOs (E-5 to E-9) numbered 15 each. That mix is more senior than the Air Force overall, where 61% were junior enlisted.

## More Special Courts-Martial Than General

General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 33% of cases (10 of 30). Special courts-martial, capped at one year of confinement, made up the rest.

The median confinement was 1.5 years at general courts-martial and 4 months at special courts-martial. A special court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.

## Drug Charges and Some Rarer Articles

Charges are listed for 24 of the 30 cases, and each article counts once per case. Article 112a, wrongful use or possession of controlled substances, appeared in 13 (54%), close to the 52% for the year. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, appeared in 5 (21%), and Article 134, the general article, in 4 (17%).

Several less common articles were charged more often than usual. Article 107, false official statements, appeared in 3 cases (12%), compared with 4% for 2017\. Article 120c, other sexual misconduct, and Article 90, willfully disobeying a superior officer, each appeared in 2 (8%). For the year, the shares were 2% and 1%.

Article 120b appeared in 2 cases, the same as its 8% annual share. Assault under Article 128 appeared in only 1 (4%), compared with 11%.

| UCMJ Article                                                                                                                                       | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2017 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------------------------------------ |
| [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 13    | 54%        | 52%                                  |
| [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation         | 5     | 21%        | 17%                                  |
| [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article                           | 4     | 17%        | 21%                                  |
| [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements                 | 3     | 12%        | 4%                                   |
| [Art. 120b](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault of a child      | 2     | 8%         | 8%                                   |
| [Art. 120c](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120c/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Other sexual misconduct                 | 2     | 8%         | 2%                                   |
| [Art. 90](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-90/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Willfully disobeying superior officer       | 2     | 8%         | 1%                                   |
| [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault                                   | 1     | 4%         | 11%                                  |

## Full Acquittals Were About the Same as the Year

Full acquittals, meaning not guilty of all charges, were 6 of the 30 cases (20%), close to the 21% for the Air Force in 2017\. Records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea, so this rate is measured against all cases, not only contested cases. The annual rate of 21% is measured the same way.

## Panels and Judges

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Where the forum is listed, members decided 47% of cases: 11 officer panels and 3 enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided 16.

Guilty pleas are rarely recorded for this period, so the records cannot show how many of these cases were contested.

## Installations

Vandenberg SFB, California, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico, tried 3 cases each. Pope AAF, North Carolina, and Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, tried 2 each, and Moody AFB, Georgia, tried 1\. These five accounted for 37% 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.

## October 2016 Compared

October 2016 had 33 cases; October 2017 had 30\. Median confinement went from 4 months to 6 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 32% to 42%. Convictions with confinement went from 80% to 71%. The general court-martial share went from 24% to 33%. A few cases can change these monthly figures, so they show direction, not precise change.

These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. The records do not include offense dates, evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations.

|                               | October 2016 | October 2017 |
| ----------------------------- | ------------ | ------------ |
| Cases                         | 33           | 30           |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | —            | —            |
| Convictions with confinement  | 80%          | 71%          |
| Median confinement            | 4 months     | 6 months     |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 32%          | 42%          |
| General courts-martial        | 24%          | 33%          |

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 October 2017 (30 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)
- [Air Force Courts-Martial, September 2017: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-september-2017/) (previous / next)
- [Air Force Courts-Martial, November 2017: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-november-2017/) (previous / next)
- [Air Force Courts-Martial in 2017: Year in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-2017-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: [Air Force Courts-Martial, September 2017: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-september-2017/)Next: [Air Force Courts-Martial, November 2017: The Month in Review](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-courts-martial-november-2017/) →

**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.