Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 2016–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 18 Cases
Keesler AFB, Mississippi had 18 Air Force courts-martial from November 2016 to October 2018, 2% of the 991 Air Force cases in those years. Of the 18 cases, 7 ended in a full acquittal (39%), compared with 20% across the Air Force.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Keesler AFB, Mississippi › 2016–2018
Short answer: Keesler AFB, Mississippi had 18 Air Force courts-martial from November 2016 to October 2018, 2% of the 991 Air Force cases in those years. Of the 18 cases, 7 ended in a full acquittal (39%), compared with 20% across the Air Force. For the 11 convictions, the median confinement was 1 year, compared with 4 months Air Force-wide.
Full Acquittals Were More Common
A full acquittal, a verdict of not guilty on every charge, ended 7 of the 18 cases (39%). The Air Force rate over the same years was 20%.
Between 2016 and 2019, Air Force records seldom show a plea when the accused admitted the charges. The 39% is therefore figured over all 18 cases, not over contested cases alone.
Sentences After Conviction
Of the 11 convictions, 91% carried confinement. Keesler's median confinement was 1 year, while the Air Force median was 4 months. At the top end, a quarter of the sentences with confinement ran 4.5 years or longer.
All of these figures are the sentences announced at trial. Clemency, appeal, or a plea-agreement cap could have reduced them later, and one sentence covers all the charges in its case.
Punitive Discharges
Of 11 convicted enlisted members, 8 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (73%), compared with 55% Air Force-wide. Only 1 of those was a dishonorable discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Charges Listed
Charges are listed for 11 of the 18 cases. Article 112a (drug offenses) was charged in 5 of them (45%), about the same as the 48% across the Air Force. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation), Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), and Article 128 (assault) were each charged in 3 cases (27%).
Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 2 cases (18%), compared with 25% across the Air Force. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Air Force docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 45% | 48% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 27% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 27% | 10% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 27% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 2 | 18% | 25% |
| Art. 111 Drunken or reckless driving | 1 | 9% | 4% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 1 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 1 | 9% | 2% |
Rank, Court Level, and Forum
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and NCOs (E-5 to E-9) each made up 44% of the accused, and officers 11%. Across the Air Force, 63% of the accused were junior enlisted. General courts-martial made up 10 of the 18 cases (56%), compared with 47% across the Air Force.
Members heard 47% of the cases with the forum listed: 2 enlisted panels and 6 officer panels. A military judge alone heard the other 9.
Similar Installations
Hill AFB, Utah and Moody AFB, Georgia each tried 20 cases in the same years. Both had a shorter median confinement than Keesler: 6 months at Hill and 4 months at Moody. The punitive discharge rate was 53% at Hill and 67% at Moody.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keesler AFB, Mississippi | 18 | — | — | 1 year | 73% |
| Hill AFB, Utah | 20 | — | — | 6 months | 53% |
| Moody AFB, Georgia | 20 | — | — | 4 months | 67% |
Years and Limits
Keesler held 2 trials in 2016, 9 in 2017, and 7 in 2018. Every one came before January 1, 2019, the date the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect.
Offense dates are not in the records, only trial dates. Evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, and administrative separations are not covered. When an Air Force case ended in a full acquittal, the charges are seldom listed.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Keesler AFB, Mississippi with a trial date in 2016–2018 (18 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
- Keesler AFB, Mississippi: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Keesler AFB, Mississippi Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 16 Cases Show (another period)
- Inside 18 Courts-Martial at JB Andrews, Maryland, 2016–2018 (same years, similar size)
- McConnell AFB, Kansas Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 18 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
- S1 E11: Keesler Air Force Base Chaos (podcast, members)
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 2016–2018
- Thomas J. Alford
- Jefferson B. Brown
- Donald R. Eller Jr.
- Christina M. Jimenez
- James E. Key III
- Mark W. Milam
- Andrew R. Norton
- Jennifer J. Raab
- 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.