Ft Meade, Maryland Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 10 Cases Show
Air Force records list 10 courts-martial at Ft Meade, Maryland from 2019 to 2023. Every case ended in a conviction with confinement, and the median term was 10 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Ft Meade, Maryland › 2019–2023
Short answer: Air Force records list 10 courts-martial at Ft Meade, Maryland from 2019 to 2023. Every case ended in a conviction with confinement, and the median term was 10 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force. 80% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% for the service.
Confinement in All 10 Cases
10 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 10 of those sentences included confinement (100%). The median was 10 months, longer than the 4 months across all Air Force cases in those years. A quarter of the terms were 3 years or longer.
The terms are adjudged sentences. They reflect what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all the charges in its case.
Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges
A punitive discharge followed 80% of enlisted convictions: 4 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. In the rest of the Air Force, the rate was 56%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Junior Enlisted Accused and General Courts-Martial
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 90% of the accused and NCOs (E-5 to E-9) made up 10%. No officers were tried. In the rest of the Air Force, junior enlisted members were 64%.
7 of the 10 cases were general courts-martial (70%), compared with 53% across the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.
Charges
All 10 records list charges. Article 112a (drug use or possession) appears in 5 cases (50%), compared with 41% across the Air Force. Article 107 (false official statements) appears in 3 (30%), compared with 6%. Article 134, the general article, also appears in 3 (30%), compared with 21%.
Article 128 (assault) and Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) each appear in 2 cases (20%). Article 114 (dueling before 2019, endangerment since), Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), and Article 131b (obstructing justice) each appear in 1. A case is counted under every article it charges.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Air Force-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 50% | 41% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 30% | 6% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 30% | 21% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 20% | 19% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 20% | 16% |
| Art. 114 Dueling before 2019, endangerment since | 1 | 10% | 1% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 1 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 1 | 10% | 3% |
Pleas and Forum
7 of the records list a plea, and 0 of those 7 were contested. A military judge alone decided 9 cases, and an enlisted panel decided 1. That is a members share of 10%.
Similar Air Force Installations
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each tried 20 cases in these years. Their median confinement was 8 months and 4 months, both shorter than the 10 months at Ft Meade. Their punitive discharge rates were 73% and 7%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ft Meade, Maryland | 10 | 0 of 7 | — | 10 months | 80% |
| RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom | 20 | 50% | 1 of 7 | 8 months | 73% |
| USAF Academy, Colorado | 20 | 75% | 3 of 9 | 4 months | 7% |
Dates and Missing Information
The trials ran from March 2019 to October 2023: 3 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 3 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 handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation, and Air Force records 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 Ft Meade, Maryland with a trial date in 2019–2023 (10 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.
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Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Ft Meade, Maryland, 2019–2023
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.