Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 15 Cases
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota had 15 courts-martial in the records from 2016 to 2018. 42% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, lower than the 55% across the Air Force.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota › 2016–2018
Short answer: Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota had 15 courts-martial in the records from 2016 to 2018. 42% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, lower than the 55% across the Air Force. The median confinement and the full acquittal rate were the same as the Air Force figures: 4 months and 20%.
Fewer Punitive Discharges
A punitive discharge followed 42% of enlisted convictions at Ellsworth: 3 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. In the Air Force as a whole, the rate was 55%.
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge means a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge imposed by the court. Without one, the member can still face an administrative separation, which these records do not include.
Fewer General Courts-Martial
5 of the 15 cases were general courts-martial (33%), compared with 47% across the Air Force. The rest were special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Confinement and Acquittals Matched the Service
Of 12 convictions, 9 included confinement. The median was 4 months, the same as across the Air Force. A quarter of the terms were 1.2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all the charges in the case.
3 of the 15 cases ended in a full acquittal (20%). The Air Force rate was also 20%. Air Force records from these years seldom list guilty pleas, so the rate uses all cases as the base.
Drug Charges and Single-Case Articles
Charges are listed for 12 of the 15 cases. Article 112a (drug use or possession) appears in 6 (50%), about the same as the 48% Air Force share. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appears in 2 (17%).
Each of these articles appears in 1 case (8%): Article 111 (drunken or reckless driving), Article 121 (larceny), Article 118 (murder), Article 109 (waste, spoilage, or destruction of property other than military property), Article 134 (the general article), and Article 86 (AWOL). Article 134 appears less often here than the 25% Air Force share.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Air Force docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 50% | 48% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving | 1 | 8% | 4% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 1 | 8% | 7% |
| Art. 118 Murder | 1 | 8% | 1% |
| Art. 109 Property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction | 1 | 8% | 0% |
| Art. 134 General article | 1 | 8% | 25% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 1 | 8% | 4% |
Who Decided Guilt?
A military judge alone decided 9 cases. Enlisted panels decided 4 and officer panels decided 2. Members heard 40% of the cases, compared with 45% across the Air Force. The accused usually makes that choice.
Rank and Peer Installations
10 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 5 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and none were officers. That is more junior than the Air Force as a whole, where 63% were junior enlisted.
Hill AFB, Utah and Moody AFB, Georgia each tried 20 cases in these years. Hill had a median confinement of 6 months and Moody had 4 months. Their punitive discharge rates for enlisted convictions were 53% and 67%, both higher than at Ellsworth.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota | 15 | — | — | 4 months | 42% |
| Hill AFB, Utah | 20 | — | — | 6 months | 53% |
| Moody AFB, Georgia | 20 | — | — | 4 months | 67% |
Timeline and Limits
The trials ran from July 2016 to November 2018: 2 in 2016, 6 in 2017, and 7 in 2018. They are 2% of the 991 Air Force courts-martial in those years. All predate the Military Justice Act of 2016, which took effect on January 1, 2019.
The records do not show the evidence, plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records seldom list charges in full acquittals and do not report plea agreements.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota with a trial date in 2016–2018 (15 cases), compared with all 991 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
- Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases (another period)
- Aviano AB, Italy Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 16 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- JB Langley-Eustis, Virginia, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 16 Cases (same years, similar size)
- Andersen AFB, Guam Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 13 Cases Show
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 17 Cases
- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, 2016–2018
- Thomas J. Alford
- Jefferson B. Brown
- James R. Dorman
- Donald R. Eller Jr.
- Bradley A. Morris
- Andrew R. Norton
- Shelly W. Schools
- Matthew D. Talcott
- Brian D. Teter
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.