How Did Contested Air Force Courts-Martial End in 2023?
The Air Force records show 120 contested courts-martial in 2023. Among cases with charges listed, Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 20%, compared with 11% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › Air Force 2023, contested
Short answer: The Air Force records show 120 contested courts-martial in 2023. Among cases with charges listed, Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 20%, compared with 11% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025. 67 cases ended in a full acquittal (56%), compared with 50%, and the median confinement after a conviction was 9 months, compared with 1 year.
Domestic Violence Charges Appeared More Often
The charge lists cover 51 of the 120 cases. Air Force records list charges mainly for convictions, so these shares describe convicted cases more than acquitted ones. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 20% of the listed cases, compared with 11% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 37%, compared with 31%.
Article 112a (drug) was in 10% of listed cases, compared with 18%, and Article 134 (general article) was in 12%, compared with 17%. A case with several articles counts once under each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 19 | 37% | 31% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 10 | 20% | 11% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 20% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 18% | 14% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 12% | 17% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 5 | 10% | 4% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 10% | 18% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 8% | 9% |
56% of Contested Cases Ended in Full Acquittal
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. All 120 cases were contested, and none involved a guilty plea. 67 of the 120 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (56%), higher than the 50% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025.
22 cases split the charges, with a not-guilty finding on at least one charge or specification and a guilty finding on another. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears in these records only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Full Acquittals by Forum
Members decided 90 cases, 65 by enlisted panels and 25 by officer panels, or 75% of the cases. A military judge alone decided the other 30.
Full acquittals came in 54 of 90 contested members cases (60%) and 13 of 30 contested judge-alone cases (43%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Cases tried each way are therefore not alike, and these rates describe outcomes rather than an effect of the forum.
Confinement After a Conviction
53 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 42 of those sentences included confinement (79%). The median confinement was 9 months, shorter than the 1-year median across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025. A quarter of those sentences were 1.7 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Few Sentences of 5 Years or More
Only 2 convictions carried 5 years or more of confinement (4%), compared with 9% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025. Overall, 17 of 53 convictions (32%) included more than one year, about the same as the 35% for 2020–2025.
Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 19%, compared with 14%. Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 28%, compared with 26%. 11 convictions carried no confinement (21%), compared with 22%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 11 | 21% | 22% |
| Under 6 months | 15 | 28% | 29% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 10 | 19% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 15 | 28% | 26% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 4% | 9% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
88 of the 120 cases were general courts-martial (73%), compared with 69% across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025. At general courts-martial, 95% of convictions brought confinement, with a median of 1 year. At special courts-martial, 40% did, with a median of 52 days.
A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Sentences by Charge
Article 120 was charged in 19 listed cases, with 16 convictions on it and a median confinement of 1.4 years. Article 128b was charged in 10, with 8 convictions and a median of 1 year. Article 128 (assault) also had 8 convictions in 10 listed cases, with a median of 9 months. These are conviction counts, not conviction rates.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 19 | 16 | 1.4 years |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 10 | 8 | 1 year |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 8 | 9 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 9 | 6 | 4 months |
Discharges and Rank
23 of 51 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 18 dishonorable discharges and 5 bad-conduct discharges. Across contested Air Force cases in 2020–2025, the share was 55%. 2 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and 1 was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
The accused were 67 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 39 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 14 officers or warrant officers. That mix is similar to the 2020–2025 group, where 54% were junior enlisted.
Installations and Record Limits
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey had 8 cases, Osan AB, South Korea 6, Cannon AFB, New Mexico 5, and Travis AFB, California and JBSA - Lackland, Texas 4 each. Those five account for 22% of the 120. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals and never report plea agreements. They give no offense dates and do not cover nonjudicial punishment.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Air Force courts-martial with a trial date in 2023, a not-guilty or mixed plea, and a result posted (120 cases), compared with all such cases in 2020–2025.
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 Acquittals in 2022: How Many Contested Cases Ended Not Guilty?
- Air Force Acquittals in 2024: How Many Contested Cases Ended Not Guilty?
- Contested Air Force Cases in 2020: Verdicts and Sentences
- Contested Air Force Cases in 2021: Verdicts and Sentences
- Contested Air Force Cases in 2025: Verdicts and Sentences
- Army Acquittals in 2022: How Many Contested Cases Ended Not Guilty?
- Army Acquittals in 2023: How Many Contested Cases Ended Not Guilty?
- 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.