Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana tried 27 courts-martial between March 2016 and December 2018, 3% of the 991 Air Force cases in those years. Drug offenses (Article 112a) were charged in 57% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 48% Air Force-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Barksdale AFB, Louisiana › 2016–2018
Short answer: Barksdale AFB, Louisiana tried 27 courts-martial between March 2016 and December 2018, 3% of the 991 Air Force cases in those years. Drug offenses (Article 112a) were charged in 57% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 48% Air Force-wide. Other results were close to Air Force rates: a median confinement of 4 months, a full acquittal in 22% of cases (compared with 20%), and a punitive discharge for 53% of convicted enlisted members (compared with 55%).
Drug Offenses Were the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed for 21 of the 27 cases. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) was charged in 12 of them, or 57%, compared with 48% across the Air Force. Article 134 (the general article) was next, with 4 cases (19%, compared with 25%).
Every other article was charged in 2 cases or fewer. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) and Article 128 (assault) were each charged in 2 cases, or 10%, about the same as the Air Force shares of 9% and 11%. Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 2 cases, 10% compared with 4% Air Force-wide. Article 120b (sexual offenses against a child) was charged in 1 case, 5% compared with 10%. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 57% | 48% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 19% | 25% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 10% | 9% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 2 | 10% | 4% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 10% | 11% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 1 | 5% | 2% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 5% | 7% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 1 | 5% | 10% |
Officers Charged and Dismissed
The accused included 4 officers or warrant officers, 18 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), and 5 NCOs (E-5 to E-9). All 4 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge.
The group as a whole was more junior than all Air Force cases, where 63% of the accused were junior enlisted.
Discharges for Enlisted Members
A punitive discharge followed 53% of enlisted convictions: 4 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. That is about the same as the 55% Air Force-wide. A special or a general court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Most Sentences Were Under 6 Months
Of 21 convictions, 17 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the 4 months for all Air Force cases. A quarter of the terms were 6 months or longer.
Terms under 6 months followed 57% of convictions, compared with 46% in the rest of the Air Force. Terms from 6 months to 1 year followed 2 convictions (10%), compared with 14%. No conviction had a term of more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 13%. Terms of 5 years or more followed 3 convictions (14%), compared with 8% elsewhere in the Air Force. In total, 3 of 21 convictions (14%) included more than 1 year, less often than the 21% Air Force-wide.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Air Force |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 19% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 57% | 46% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 2 | 10% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 0 | 0% | 13% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 14% | 8% |
Panels Decided More Cases Than Judges
Members heard 56% of the cases with the forum listed: 7 enlisted panels and 8 officer panels. A military judge alone heard the other 12. The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.
Air Force records from this period rarely list guilty pleas. So the records cannot show how the forum choice related to whether a case was contested.
Full Acquittals at About the Air Force Rate
Of the 27 cases, 6 ended in a full acquittal (22%), compared with 20% across the Air Force. This page measures acquittals against all cases, not only contested cases. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list the plea when the accused pleaded guilty.
Court Level and Similar Installations
Barksdale had 12 general and 15 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 44%, compares with 47% Air Force-wide. The median confinement was 9 months at general courts-martial and 4 months at special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year.
JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska and Peterson SFB, Colorado each tried 26 cases in the same years. Elmendorf-Richardson had a longer median confinement, 6 months, and a higher punitive discharge rate, 65%. Peterson had a shorter median confinement, 3 months, and a lower punitive discharge rate, 44%. On both measures, Barksdale was between those installations.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barksdale AFB, Louisiana | 27 | — | — | 4 months | 53% |
| JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska | 26 | — | — | 6 months | 65% |
| Peterson SFB, Colorado | 26 | — | — | 3 months | 44% |
Timing, Rules, and Gaps
There were 7 cases in 2016, 6 in 2017, and 14 in 2018. All of them were tried before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law changed panel sizes, added judge-alone special courts-martial, and brought in written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to these cases.
The records show only cases that reached a courtroom. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, or cases closed without action. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana with a trial date in 2016–2018 (27 cases), compared with all 991 Air Force trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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
- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 23 Courts-Martial at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2019–2023 (another period)
- Inside 26 Courts-Martial at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 2016–2018 (same years, similar size)
- Inside 26 Courts-Martial at Peterson SFB, Colorado, 2016–2018 (same years, similar size)
- Andersen AFB, Guam Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 13 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 16 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 17 Cases
- Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 29 Cases Show
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018
- Thomas J. Alford
- Jefferson B. Brown
- Donald R. Eller Jr.
- Bryon T. Gleisner
- Joseph S. Imburgia
- Christina M. Jimenez
- Diana L. Johnson
- James E. Key III
- Mark W. Milam
- Bradley A. Morris
- Lyndell M. Powell
- Christopher Santoro
- Matthew D. Talcott
- Brian D. Teter
- Marvin W. Tubbs II
- Charles G. Warren
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.