Air Force Courts-Martial, September 2022: The Month in Review
The Air Force tried 21 courts-martial in September 2022, and most were special courts-martial. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 6 months for the Air Force in all of 2022. Of convicted enlisted members, 41% received a punitive discharge, compared with 59%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Year › September 2022
Short answer: The Air Force tried 21 courts-martial in September 2022, and most were special courts-martial. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 6 months for the Air Force in all of 2022. Of convicted enlisted members, 41% received a punitive discharge, compared with 59%.
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
Of the 21 cases, 13 were special courts-martial and 8 were general courts-martial. The general court-martial share of 38% is lower than the 57% for the Air Force that year.
The court level sets the maximum sentence. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, it can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months with no punitive discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.
Shorter Confinement
Confinement was part of 76% of the 17 convictions. The median confinement was 3 months, and a quarter of terms were 6 months or longer. The Air Force median for 2022 was 6 months.
These numbers are adjudged sentences. They cover every charge in a case and were set at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. The sentencing figures describe 17 convictions, not all 21 cases.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Among 17 convicted enlisted members, 7 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (41%). The Air Force share for 2022 was 59%. Of the 7, 2 were dishonorable discharges. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.
No officers were tried this month, so no dismissals appear. A conviction without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation, which these court records do not show.
Pleas and Verdicts
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. September 2022 had 11 contested cases and 10 guilty pleas. The contested share was 52%, compared with 47% for the year.
Of the 11 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal (36%), meaning not guilty of all charges. For the Air Force in 2022, the rate was 45%. Another 2 (18%) were partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another. Air Force results report one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Members Decided About Half the Contested Cases
A military judge alone decided 15 of the 21 cases (71%). Members decided 6: 4 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels.
Among the contested cases, members decided 6 of 11 (55%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the forum split mostly follows the number of contested cases. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel decides guilt.
No Single Charge Was Most Common
Charge lists exist for 15 of the 21 cases, and each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault), Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances), and Article 134 (the general article) each appeared in 3 cases (20%). No article appeared in more cases.
The drug share of 20% was lower than the 33% for the year. Article 128b, domestic violence, appeared in 13%, compared with 4%. Article 120b, rape and sexual assault of a child, also appeared in 13%, compared with 6%. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 13%, compared with 17%. Article 107 (false official statements) and Article 115 (communicating threats) each appeared once. Because Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals, these shares come mostly from cases with a conviction.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 20% | 23% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 3 | 20% | 33% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 20% | 20% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 13% | 6% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 2 | 13% | 4% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 13% | 17% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 7% | 3% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 1 | 7% | 4% |
The Accused and Their Installations
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 62% of the accused and NCOs 38%. Across the Air Force in 2022, junior enlisted members were 58% of those tried.
Peterson SFB, Colorado, Shaw AFB, South Carolina, and Osan AB, South Korea, tried 2 cases each. JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and Malmstrom AFB, Montana, tried 1 each. Together they accounted for 38% of the month's cases. Larger bases try more cases of every kind, so these counts do not mean any installation is unusual.
What the Records Cannot Show
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the terms of any plea agreement, and they do not include misconduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. A month with 21 cases is a small group, and a few trials can change any of these shares. The records also do not show why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges, or why a panel or military judge reached a given verdict.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in September 2022 (21 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, August 2022: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- October 2022 at Air Force Courts-Martial: 24 Cases (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.