What Was Tried at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2019–2023? 39 Courts-Martial
Minot AFB, North Dakota tried 39 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. The median adjudged confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force. Of 16 contested cases that reached a verdict, 11 ended in a full acquittal (69%), compared with 51% Air Force-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Minot AFB, North Dakota › 2019–2023
Short answer: Minot AFB, North Dakota tried 39 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. The median adjudged confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months across the Air Force. Of 16 contested cases that reached a verdict, 11 ended in a full acquittal (69%), compared with 51% Air Force-wide.
Longer Confinement After Conviction
Confinement sentences at Minot were longer than in the rest of the Air Force. Of 26 convictions, 25 included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months in the rest of the Air Force. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 1.2 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year were more common than across the Air Force: 9 of 26 convictions (35%), compared with 23%. Only 4% of convictions included no confinement, compared with 12% Air Force-wide.
These are adjudged sentences, imposed at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in its case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 1 | 4% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 46% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 15% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 31% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 6% |
Most Contested Cases Ended in Full Acquittal
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 16 contested cases that reached a verdict, 11 ended in a full acquittal (69%). That rate is higher than the 51% across the Air Force. Another 3 ended in a partial acquittal.
Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it. The contested share was about the same as the Air Force as a whole. Of the 33 records listing a plea, 16 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 17 were guilty pleas. That is 48%, compared with 50% Air Force-wide.
Compared With 2016–2018
Minot had 17 cases in 2016–2018, about 6 a year. Since then, it has had about 8 a year, counting full years. The median confinement went from 1.1 years to 8 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 92% to 68%. General courts-martial went from 71% of cases to 59%.
In small groups, a few cases can change these figures, so the changes show direction, not precision. The records cannot show why the figures changed.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 17 | 39 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 48% |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 96% |
| Median confinement | 1.1 years | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 92% | 68% |
| General courts-martial | 71% | 59% |
General Article Charges Were More Common
Only 25 of the 39 records list charges. A case with several articles appears in several rows. Article 134 (the general article) appears in 36% of those cases, compared with 21% across the Air Force.
Drug charges were less common. Article 112a appears in 24% of cases here, compared with 41% Air Force-wide. Article 128b (domestic violence) appears in 16%, compared with 5%. Article 121 (larceny) appears in 12%, compared with 4%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Air Force |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 9 | 36% | 21% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 24% | 41% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 16% | 5% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 12% | 4% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 12% | 19% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 12% | 16% |
| Art. 115 Malingering before 2019, communicating threats since | 2 | 8% | 4% |
| Art. 130 Housebreaking before 2019, stalking since | 1 | 4% | 1% |
Punitive Discharges After Conviction
Of 25 convicted enlisted members, 17 received a punitive discharge: 11 bad-conduct and 6 dishonorable. Across all Air Force cases in those years, the share was 56%. A punitive discharge was more common here.
The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Court Level and Who Decided Guilt
General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, were 59% of the cases (23 of 39). Their median confinement was 1.2 years, and 55% were contested. The 16 special courts-martial, capped at one year, had a median confinement of 57 days, and 38% were contested.
A military judge alone decided guilt in 28 of 38 cases with the forum listed (74%). Members heard 10: 8 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 8 of 16 (50%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so this split mostly follows how many cases were contested.
Rank of the Accused, and Similar Bases
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 74% of the accused, NCOs 21%, and officers 5%. Across the rest of the Air Force, junior enlisted members were 64%.
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey and Ramstein AB, Germany tried a similar number of cases. Minot had the longest median confinement of the 3: 8 months, compared with 6 months and 5 months. It had the highest punitive discharge share: 68%, compared with 50% and 43%. Ramstein had the highest contested share, 61%.
Minot's 39 cases were tried from March 2019 to December 2023: 5 in 2019, 8 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 10 in 2022, and 10 in 2023. They are 3% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minot AFB, North Dakota | 39 | 48% | 11 of 16 | 8 months | 68% |
| 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% |
Limits of These Records
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Misconduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation is not included. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals and never report plea agreements, so the charge shares above are based on partial lists.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Minot AFB, North Dakota with a trial date in 2019–2023 (39 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
- Minot AFB, North Dakota: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 17 Courts-Martial at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2016–2018 (another period)
- Inside 17 Courts-Martial at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2024–2026 (another period)
- Inside 39 Courts-Martial at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, 2019–2023 (same years, similar size)
- Ramstein AB, Germany, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 38 Cases (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
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2019–2023
- Thomas J. Alford
- William J. Annexstad
- Tiny L. Bowman
- Jefferson B. Brown
- Bryon T. Gleisner
- Elizabeth M. Hernandez
- Christopher D. James
- Shad R. Kidd
- Brian C. Mason
- Bradley A. Morris
- Andrew R. Norton
- Bradley J. Palmer
- Sterling C. Pendleton
- Dayle P. Percle
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Mark F. Rosenow
- Thomas A. Smith
- Charles G. Warren
- 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.