Inside 10 Courts-Martial at JB Andrews, Maryland, 2024–2026

Trends › By Installation › JB Andrews, Maryland › 2024–2026

Based on 10 cases · 2024–2026 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Senior Group of Accused

NCOs (E-5 to E-9) made up 8 of the 10 accused. There was 1 junior enlisted member (E-1 to E-4) and 1 officer or warrant officer. Across the Air Force in those years, 58% of the accused were junior enlisted, so this group was more senior than the service as a whole.

General courts-martial made up 70% of the cases (7 of 10), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Pleas and Verdicts

The plea is recorded in 9 of the 10 cases. Of those, 3 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. In 2019–2023, 50% of cases with a plea recorded were contested.

Of the 3 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal. In 2019–2023, 5 of 7 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. These counts are small, and a single case changes the result.

Sentences and Discharges

Confinement was part of the sentence in 4 of 7 convictions. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months in 2019–2023. Of 6 convicted enlisted members, 4 received a punitive discharge (a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge). In 2019–2023, 50% of convicted enlisted members received one.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Who Decided Guilt?

A military judge alone heard 8 cases. Enlisted panels heard the other 2, and no case went to an officer panel. Members heard 20% of the cases, compared with 28% across the Air Force in those years. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt.

Installations With a Similar Number of Cases

Ramstein AB, Germany tried 20 cases in the same years, and McConnell AFB, Kansas tried 21. Ramstein had a median confinement of 9 months, and McConnell had 3 months. A punitive discharge followed 65% of enlisted convictions at Ramstein and 44% at McConnell.

Case Counts and Rule Changes

The records show 4 cases in 2024, 3 in 2025, and 3 in 2026, which is a partial year. In 2019–2023 the installation had 21 cases, about 4 a year, the same yearly rate as since 2024.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on the offense date, which the records do not give.

What the Records Do Not Show

These records cover only cases that reached a courtroom, not nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or cases closed without action. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. This sheet has no charge list for these cases, and Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals.

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.