Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 35 Cases

Trends › By Installation › Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona › 2016–2018

Based on 35 cases · 2016–2018 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Charged Drug Offenses

Drug charges were the most common charges at Davis-Monthan in these years. The charge lists cover 31 of the 35 cases. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) was charged in 25 of them, or 81%. Across the Air Force in the same years, the share was 48%.

Other articles were charged much less often. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 7 cases (23%, compared with 25% across the Air Force). Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (orders violation) were each charged in 4 cases. A case with several articles is counted under each one, so these counts overlap.

Punitive Discharges Were Uncommon

Of 30 convicted enlisted members, 6 received a punitive discharge: 4 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. That 20% share compares with 55% across the Air Force.

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer here was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation, which these court-martial records do not track.

Short Confinement Terms

Of 31 convictions, 24 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, about the same as the 4 months across the Air Force. A quarter of terms were 5 months or longer.

Long sentences were uncommon. Only 1 of 31 convictions included more than one year of confinement (3%), compared with 21% across the Air Force. No sentence was 5 years or more. Terms under 6 months made up 61% of convictions, compared with 46%.

These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial and before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

Mostly Special Courts-Martial

Only 8 of the 35 cases were general courts-martial (23%), compared with 47% across the Air Force. The rest were special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose long confinement or a dishonorable discharge.

Most of the accused were junior enlisted: 26 junior enlisted members, 8 NCOs, and 1 officer. The group was more junior than the Air Force as a whole.

Full Acquittals Measured Against All Cases

Of the 35 cases, 4 ended in a full acquittal (11%), compared with 20% across the Air Force. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list the plea when the accused pleaded guilty, so this rate is measured against all cases, not only contested cases.

For the same reason, the records cannot give a reliable contested share for these years. Air Force records also rarely list charges in full acquittals, and the charge lists here cover 31 of 35 cases.

Panels Decided Most Cases

Panels of members decided 66% of cases with a recorded forum: 18 officer panels and 5 enlisted panels. A military judge alone decided the other 12 cases.

The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Guilty pleas are rarely recorded for these years, so the records cannot show how many panel cases were guilty pleas and how many were trials.

Compared With Holloman and Nellis

Holloman AFB, New Mexico (34 cases) and Nellis AFB, Nevada (29 cases) tried a similar number of cases in the same years. The median confinement was 3 months at Davis-Monthan and Nellis and 2 months at Holloman.

Davis-Monthan had the lowest punitive discharge rate of the 3 bases: 20%, compared with 44% at Holloman and 38% at Nellis.

The Rules in Force

These trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 stayed under the old rules.

Number of Cases and Limits

The base tried 8 cases in 2016, 12 in 2017, and 15 in 2018, for 35 cases from June 2016 through November 2018. That is 4% of the 991 Air Force courts-martial in those years.

The records show charges, findings, and sentences. They do not show offense dates, the evidence, or plea terms, because Air Force records never report plea agreements. They do not include drug use handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

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.