Inside 29 Courts-Martial at Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 2019–2023

Trends › By Installation › Cannon AFB, New Mexico › 2019–2023

Based on 29 cases · 2019–2023 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Sentences Than the Rest of the Air Force

Of the 29 cases, 18 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 15 of those sentences included confinement (83%). The median confinement was 1.2 years, longer than the 4-month median across the Air Force. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 3.7 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial and before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case. Air Force records never report plea agreements, so the records cannot show whether a plea agreement later limited any sentence.

Most Cases Were Contested

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 19 records that list a plea, 3 accused pleaded guilty and 16 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 84%. Across all Air Force cases, it was 50%.

Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea, and 2019 was the year with the most cases at Cannon in this period. The plea count therefore uses only the records that show a plea.

Acquittals in Contested Cases

Of 16 contested cases that reached a verdict, 9 ended in a full acquittal, a rate of 56%. That was higher than the 51% across the Air Force. Another 2 ended in a partial acquittal: guilty of at least one charge and not guilty of another.

Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it. The count of 2 may therefore be lower than the actual number of partial acquittals.

Panels and General Courts-Martial

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At Cannon, a judge alone heard 14 cases, enlisted panels heard 9, and officer panels heard 6. Members heard 52% of cases, compared with 38% across the Air Force. In contested cases, members heard 10 of 16 (62%).

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Cannon held 22 general and 7 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 76%, compared with 53% across the Air Force.

Change From 2016–2018

The number of cases was about the same: about 6 a year in 2016–2018 and in the full years since. Sentences were more severe in the later period. The median confinement went from 4 months to 1.2 years. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 42% to 69%. General courts-martial went from 29% of cases to 76%.

The share of convictions with any confinement went from 71% to 83%. The earlier period has no plea or acquittal figures to compare, because Air Force records from those years rarely list a guilty plea. There were 17 cases before and 29 after, so a few cases can change these figures.

Discharges and Dismissals

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 69% of convicted enlisted members at Cannon received one: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. Across all Air Force cases, the rate was 56%.

The records list 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and both were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Charges in the Records That List Them

Only 18 of the 29 records list the charges. Air Force records rarely list charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal, so these charge shares come mostly from cases that ended in a conviction.

In those 18 cases, Article 134, the general article, was charged in 39%, compared with 21% across the Air Force. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 28%, compared with 19%. Article 120b, rape and sexual assault of a child, was charged in 22%, compared with 7%. Article 112a drug offenses were charged in 39%, about the same as the 41% service-wide.

Compared With Davis-Monthan and Hurlburt Field

Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and Hurlburt Field, Florida each tried 29 cases in the same years. Cannon had the highest contested share, 84%, compared with 56% and 79%. It also had the longest median confinement, 1.2 years, compared with 6 months at Davis-Monthan and 2 months at Hurlburt Field.

Cannon also had the highest punitive discharge rate for convicted enlisted members: 69%, compared with 59% and 39%.

Timing, Rank, and Limits

Cannon tried 10 cases in 2019 and then 4, 5, 5, and 5 through 2023. That is 2% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years. The accused included 16 junior enlisted members, 11 NCOs, and 2 officers.

The records cover courts-martial only. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, offense dates, or plea terms.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.