Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 11 Cases Show
From 2019 to 2023, the records show 11 courts-martial at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. All 11 ended in a conviction that included confinement, with a median term of 2 months, compared with 4 months in the rest of the Air Force.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota › 2019–2023
Short answer: From 2019 to 2023, the records show 11 courts-martial at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. All 11 ended in a conviction that included confinement, with a median term of 2 months, compared with 4 months in the rest of the Air Force. 73% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% across the Air Force.
Short Terms of Confinement
Confinement was part of 100% of the 11 convictions at Grand Forks. Half of the terms were 2 months or less, compared with an Air Force median of 4 months. A quarter were 1.2 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences: what the court imposed at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in its case.
Punitive Discharges Were More Common
A punitive discharge followed 73% of enlisted convictions: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. Across all Air Force cases in those years, the rate was 56%.
Without a punitive discharge, a member can still be separated administratively. These records do not show administrative separations.
What Was Charged
All 11 records list charges. Article 112a (drug use or possession) appears in 4 cases (36%), compared with 41% across the Air Force. Article 134, the general article, appears in 3 (27%), compared with 21%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appears in 2 (18%), compared with 11%.
Article 107 (false official statements), Article 85 (desertion), Article 86 (AWOL), and Article 93 (cruelty and maltreatment) each appear in 1 case. Any one case can count under several articles.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 36% | 41% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 27% | 21% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 18% | 11% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 1 | 9% | 6% |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 1 | 9% | 1% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 1 | 9% | 5% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 1 | 9% | 1% |
Pleas, Forum, and Rank
8 records list a plea, and 2 of those were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. Neither of the 2 contested cases ended in a full acquittal. Members decided 27% of the cases: 2 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. A military judge alone decided the other 8.
10 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 1 was an NCO (E-5 to E-9), and none were officers. That is more junior than the Air Force as a whole, where 64% were junior enlisted. Grand Forks had 6 general and 5 special courts-martial, a general share of 55% compared with 53% across the Air Force. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Grand Forks, Mildenhall, and the Academy
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each tried 20 cases in these years. Mildenhall had the same 73% punitive discharge rate as Grand Forks, and the Academy had 7%. Their median confinement was 8 months and 4 months.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota | 11 | 2 of 8 | 0 of 2 | 2 months | 73% |
| 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 Gaps
The trials ran from January 2019 to October 2023: 3 in 2019, 1 in 2020, 5 in 2021, 1 in 2022, and 1 in 2023. They are 1% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
This is what reached a courtroom. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, the evidence, and any plea terms are outside these records.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota with a trial date in 2019–2023 (11 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
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 12 Courts-Martial at Dover AFB, Delaware, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- Ft Meade, Maryland Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 10 Cases Show (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
- Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 27 Cases
- Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 29 Cases Show
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, 2019–2023
- Christopher D. James
- Shad R. Kidd
- Bradley A. Morris
- Matthew J. Neil
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Matthew P. Stoffel
- Charles G. Warren
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.