JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey and Ramstein AB, Germany, 2019–2023: How Their Courts-Martial Compare
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey had 39 Air Force courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Ramstein AB, Germany had 38.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey › vs. Ramstein AB, Germany
Short answer: JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey had 39 Air Force courts-martial from 2019–2023, and Ramstein AB, Germany had 38. At JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, 73% of contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (11 of 15), compared with 47% at Ramstein, and Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since) was charged in 18% of cases, compared with 4%.
Full Acquittals in 11 of 15 Contested Cases
A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 15 contested cases at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst reached a verdict, and 11 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge. The rate was 73%. At Ramstein, it was 47%, or 9 of 19.
2 more cases were partial acquittals. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal shows only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Members Heard Nearly Every Contested Case
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. At JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a military judge alone decided 24 of 39 cases (62%). Members heard 15: 10 enlisted panels and 5 officer panels.
Among contested cases, members heard 14 of 15 (93%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Pleas at the Two Bases
36 of the 39 records list the plea: 21 guilty pleas and 15 contested cases. The contested share was 42%, lower than the 61% at Ramstein.
Air Force records never report plea agreements, so this page cannot say how many guilty pleas came with one.
Charges in the Records
Only 28 of the 39 records list the charges. Air Force records rarely list charges in cases that ended in a full acquittal, and this installation had many of those.
Article 128 (assault), Article 134 (the general article), and Article 112a (drug offenses) each appeared in 21% of the cases with charges listed. At Ramstein, the shares were 13%, 22%, and 39%.
Article 113 (misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019; drunken or reckless driving since) appeared in 18% of cases, against 4% at Ramstein. Article 87a (resistance, flight, breach of arrest) appeared in 11%, against 0%. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 11%, against 17%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 14%, against 17%, and Article 86 (AWOL) in 7%, against 0%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Ramstein AB, Germany in the same years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 6 | 21% | 13% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 21% | 22% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 21% | 39% |
| Art. 113 Misbehavior of a sentinel before 2019, drunken or reckless driving since | 5 | 18% | 4% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 14% | 17% |
| Art. 87a Resistance, flight, breach of arrest | 3 | 11% | 0% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 11% | 17% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 2 | 7% | 0% |
Confinement and Sentence Length
Confinement was part of 93% of the 28 convictions. The median confinement was 6 months, about the same as the 5 months at Ramstein.
Sentences of more than one year came less often at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst: 7 of 28 convictions (25%), against 29% at Ramstein. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year made up 25% of convictions, against 8%. Sentences under 6 months made up 43%, against 54%. At the top of the range, 4% of convictions carried 5 years or more, against 8% at Ramstein. 7% carried no confinement, against 8%.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Ramstein AB, Germany in the same years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 2 | 7% | 8% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 43% | 54% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 25% | 8% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 21% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 8% |
Punitive Discharges
Among 28 enlisted members convicted, 14 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (50%), more often than the 43% at Ramstein. 7 of those were dishonorable.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Court Level and Rank
General courts-martial made up 54% of cases (21 of 39). Every conviction at that level included confinement, with a median of 1.7 years. At the 18 special courts-martial, 88% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 2 months. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
By rank, the accused were 29 junior enlisted members, 9 NCOs, and 1 officer. The sheet describes this group as more junior than the accused at Ramstein.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey | 39 | 42% | 11 of 15 | 6 months | 50% |
| Ramstein AB, Germany | 38 | 61% | 9 of 19 | 5 months | 43% |
Cases by Year
The records run from February 2019 to December 2023. By year: 2019: 3, 2020: 1, 2021: 9, 2022: 9, 2023: 17. Most of the cases come from 2021 on, and 2023 has the largest count. With 39 cases in all, each case moves the shares on this page by a visible amount.
What the Records Do Not Show
A full acquittal ends the case with no conviction and no sentence, so the 11 full acquittals here do not appear in the confinement or discharge figures. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not show cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey (39) and Ramstein AB, Germany (38) with trial dates in 2019–2023. Each figure for JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey is set beside the same figure for Ramstein AB, Germany.
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
- JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Ramstein AB, Germany: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
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- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, 2019–2023
- Christopher D. James
- Diana L. Johnson
- Brian C. Mason
- Matthew N. McCall
- Mark W. Milam
- Tyler B. Musselman
- Andrew R. Norton
- Dayle P. Percle
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Joshua D. Rosen
- Michael A. Schrama
- Shaun S. Speranza
- Brian Michael Thompson
- Charles G. Warren
- Pilar G. Wennrich
- Charles E. Wiedie Jr.
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.