What Was Tried in Alaska? Courts-Martial 2016–2025
The records hold 183 courts-martial tried in Alaska from 2016–2025: 108 in the Army and 75 in the Air Force.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Alaska
Short answer: The records hold 183 courts-martial tried in Alaska from 2016–2025: 108 in the Army and 75 in the Air Force. Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since) was charged in 11% of these cases, compared with 2% across all courts-martial in those years, and 27% of cases were contested, against 34%.
Article 113 Charges Were More Common in Alaska
166 of the 183 records list the charges. Each article counts once per case, so a case charging assault and sexual assault counts under both.
Article 113 was charged in 19 cases (11%), compared with 2% across all courts-martial in those years. The article's subject changed in 2019. Before 2019, Article 113 covered misbehavior of a sentinel. Since 2019, it has covered drunken or reckless driving.
Article 134 (the general article) was also charged more often: 27% of cases, against 20%. Article 112a (drug offenses) was the most common charge, in 45 cases (27%), compared with 24%. Article 128 (assault) was charged less often, in 21% against 25%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all courts-martial in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 45 | 27% | 24% |
| Art. 134 General article | 44 | 27% | 20% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 35 | 21% | 25% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 23 | 14% | 16% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 20 | 12% | 15% |
| Art. 113 Misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019, drunken or reckless driving since | 19 | 11% | 2% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence, numbered since 2019 | 16 | 10% | 8% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 13 | 8% | 8% |
Army and Air Force Cases, Year by Year
All 183 Alaska cases come from the Army (108) and the Air Force (75). The records hold no Navy or Marine Corps courts-martial tried in Alaska.
The data starts in March 2016. The yearly count was 9 in 2016, 11 in 2017, 8 in 2018, 11 in 2019, and 13 in 2020. From 2021 on, the counts were higher: 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022, 32 in 2023, 25 in 2024, and 23 in 2025.
Fort Wainwright had 66 cases and Eielson AFB had 25. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson appears under separate names in the records: 50 cases as JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and 42 as Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
| Service | Cases |
|---|---|
| Army | 108 |
| Air Force | 75 |
| Navy-Marine Corps | 0 |
Guilty Pleas Were More Common
134 of the 183 records list the plea. 98 accused pleaded guilty and 36 contested at least one charge through a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share, 27%, is lower than the 34% for all courts-martial in those years.
Guilty pleas varied by charge. Cases charging Article 134 ended in a guilty plea 90% of the time (27 of 30). Cases charging Article 128 ended in a guilty plea 71% of the time (22 of 31). The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested the charges.
Full Acquittals in Contested Cases
33 contested cases in Alaska reached a verdict, and 42% of them ended in a full acquittal, with the accused acquitted of all charges. Across all courts-martial in those years, the rate was 40%.
Another 11 cases ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. With 33 decided contested cases, a few verdicts can move these rates by several points.
Confinement After a Conviction
153 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 134 of those convictions carried confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, close to the 6 months for all courts-martial in those years. A quarter of the confinement terms were 1 year or longer.
32 of the 153 convictions brought more than one year of confinement (21%), compared with 25% across all courts-martial. Only 4 brought 5 years or more (3%), against 7%. The most common band was under 6 months, with 68 convictions (44%).
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all courts-martial in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 19 | 12% | 16% |
| Under 6 months | 68 | 44% | 40% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 34 | 22% | 19% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 28 | 18% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 4 | 3% | 7% |
Results for the Top Charges
All 23 cases charging Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 6 months. Article 112a ended in a conviction in 43 of 45 cases (96%), with a median of 4 months.
Article 134 ended in a conviction in 40 of 44 cases (91%), with a median of 7 months, and Article 128 in 32 of 35 (91%), with a median of 4 months. One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 45 | 43 (96%) | 4 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 44 | 40 (91%) | 7 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 35 | 32 (91%) | 4 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 23 | 23 (100%) | 6 months |
Discharges, Court Level, and Rank
82 of 146 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 65 bad-conduct discharges and 17 dishonorable discharges. The share across all courts-martial in those years was 63%. 7 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in the Alaska records, and 1 was dismissed.
General courts-martial made up 59% of the 164 cases with a court level listed (96 of 164), with a median confinement of 1 year; 40% of them were contested. The 68 special courts-martial had a median of 3 months, and 17% were contested. The level is not listed for 19 cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
114 of the accused were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 60 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 9 were officers or warrant officers, a mix similar to all courts-martial in those years.
Law Changes and Record Limits
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. These rules turn on offense dates, which the records do not give.
The records also do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Courts-martial at installations in Alaska with trial dates in 2016–2025 (183 cases), all services. Navy and Marine Corps plea and forum records are incomplete before 2021.
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
- By Installation (hub)
- 120 Courts-Martial in Joint Base San Antonio, 2016–2025
- Courts-Martial in Europe: How the Services Compare, 2016–2025
- Courts-Martial in Hawaii: How the Services Compare, 2016–2025
- Courts-Martial in Japan and Guam: How the Services Compare, 2016–2025
- What Was Tried in Korea? Courts-Martial 2016–2025
- What Was Tried in Washington State? Courts-Martial 2016–2025
- Smaller Air Force Installations: 177 Courts-Martial Together
- 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.