What Was Tried at Eglin AFB, Florida, 2019–2023? 16 Courts-Martial
From 2019 to 2023, the records show 16 courts-martial at Eglin AFB, Florida. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force. 71% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% for the service as a whole.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Eglin AFB, Florida › 2019–2023
Short answer: From 2019 to 2023, the records show 16 courts-martial at Eglin AFB, Florida. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force. 71% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% for the service as a whole.
Longer Confinement Than the Air Force Median
Confinement was part of 93% of the 14 convictions at Eglin. The median term was 8 months, longer than the 4 months across the Air Force. A quarter of the terms were 1.8 years or longer.
Each figure is an adjudged sentence. It is what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and it covers every charge in the case.
Changes From 2016 to 2018
The same installation had 12 cases in 2016 to 2018, about 4 a year. Since 2019 the pace has been about 3 a year, counting full years only.
Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 100% to 71%. The median confinement went from 1 year to 8 months. General courts-martial went from 75% of cases to 50%. With groups this small, a few cases can move each figure, so these changes show direction only.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 12 | 16 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 1 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 93% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 100% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 75% | 50% |
Drug and Assault Charges
Charges are listed for 14 of the 16 cases. Article 112a (drug use or possession) appears in 7 (50%), compared with 41% across the Air Force. Article 128 (assault) appears in 4 (29%), compared with 19%.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) each appear in 3 cases (21%). The Air Force shares were 16% and 7%. Article 134, the general article, appears in 1 case (7%), lower than the 21% service share. A case with several articles counts under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 50% | 41% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 29% | 19% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 21% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 21% | 7% |
| Art. 116 Riot or breach of peace | 1 | 7% | 0% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 1 | 7% | 4% |
| Art. 134 General article | 1 | 7% | 21% |
Discharges and Acquittals
10 of 14 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 6 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
2 of the 16 cases ended in a full acquittal (12%), compared with 24% across the Air Force. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 seldom list guilty pleas, so this rate counts all cases, not only contested ones. Only 9 records list a plea, and 1 of those was contested.
Forum, Rank, and Court Level
A military judge alone decided guilt in 13 cases. Members decided 19% of the cases with a forum listed: 2 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 75% of the accused, NCOs were 19%, and officers were 6%. Across the Air Force, junior enlisted members were 64%. Eglin had 8 general and 8 special courts-martial, a general share of 50% compared with 53% service-wide.
Comparison With Mildenhall and the Academy
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each tried 20 cases in these years. Mildenhall had the same 8-month median confinement as Eglin, and the Academy had 4 months. The punitive discharge rate for enlisted convictions was 71% at Eglin, 73% at Mildenhall, and 7% at the Academy.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eglin AFB, Florida | 16 | 1 of 9 | 0 of 1 | 8 months | 71% |
| RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom | 20 | 50% | 1 of 7 | 8 months | 73% |
| USAF Academy, Colorado | 20 | 75% | 3 of 9 | 4 months | 7% |
Case Count and Record Limits
The 16 trials ran from March 2019 to October 2023: 7 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 1 in 2023. They are 1% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, or cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Eglin AFB, Florida with a trial date in 2019–2023 (16 cases), compared with all 1,361 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
- Eglin AFB, Florida: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Eglin AFB, Florida Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 12 Cases Show (another period)
- Eglin AFB, Florida Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 17 Cases Show (another period)
- Keesler AFB, Mississippi Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 16 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Inside 16 Courts-Martial at Luke AFB, Arizona, 2019–2023 (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
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Eglin AFB, Florida, 2019–2023
- Wesley A. Braun
- W. Shane Cohen
- Matthew N. McCall
- Mark W. Milam
- Andrew R. Norton
- Joshua D. Rosen
- Michael A. Schrama
- Shaun S. Speranza
- Charles G. Warren
- Pilar G. Wennrich
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.