Inside 17 Courts-Martial at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2024–2026
Minot AFB, North Dakota had 17 courts-martial from 2024–2026, 3% of the Air Force total. Contested cases made up 50% of those with a plea recorded, compared with 43% Air Force-wide. Of 14 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a punitive discharge (71%, compared with 62%).
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Minot AFB, North Dakota › 2024–2026
Short answer: Minot AFB, North Dakota had 17 courts-martial from 2024–2026, 3% of the Air Force total. Contested cases made up 50% of those with a plea recorded, compared with 43% Air Force-wide. Of 14 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a punitive discharge (71%, compared with 62%). Dishonorable discharges outnumbered bad-conduct discharges, 6 to 4.
Punitive Discharges, Mostly Dishonorable
Of 14 convicted enlisted members, 10 left with a punitive discharge (71%). Across the Air Force the share was 62%. Of the 10 discharges, 6 were dishonorable and 4 were bad-conduct discharges.
A dishonorable discharge can be imposed only by a general court-martial. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Pleas and Verdicts
Pleas are recorded for 16 of the 17 cases. In 8 the accused pleaded guilty, and in 8 the accused contested at least one charge. That is 50% contested, compared with 43% across the Air Force. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea.
Of the 8 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal. In 2019–2023 the count was 11 of 16.
Confinement After Conviction
There were 14 convictions, and 13 of those sentences included confinement (93%). The median confinement was 7 months, close to the 6 months across the Air Force. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 3 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
Which Articles Were Charged
The charge lists cover 15 of the 17 cases, and a case with 3 articles appears in 3 rows. Article 134 (the general article) was the most common, in 4 cases (27%, compared with 24% Air Force-wide). Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 128b (domestic violence) were each charged in 3 cases (20%).
Article 113 (drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle) was charged in 2 cases (13%), compared with 5% Air Force-wide. Drug offenses under Article 112a appeared in only 1 case (7%), compared with 20% across the Air Force.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 27% | 24% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 20% | 16% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 20% | 15% |
| Art. 113 Drunken or reckless operation of vehicle | 2 | 13% | 5% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 13% | 13% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 13% | 13% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 1 | 7% | 8% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 1 | 7% | 20% |
Junior Enlisted Accused and General Courts-Martial
The accused were 14 junior enlisted members and 3 NCOs, with no officers. The group was more junior than the Air Force as a whole.
There were 11 general courts-martial and 6 special courts-martial. The general share, 65%, compares with 56% across the Air Force. A military judge alone decided guilt in 13 of the 17 cases (76%). Members heard 4: 3 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel.
Compared With 2019–2023
Minot had 39 cases in 2019–2023, about 8 a year, and about 7 a year since. The contested share went from 48% to 50%, and the median confinement went from 8 months to 7 months. The punitive discharge rate went from 68% to 71%. With this few cases, these changes show direction only.
| 2019–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 39 | 17 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 48% | 50% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 11 of 16 | 3 of 8 |
| Convictions with confinement | 96% | 93% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 68% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 59% | 65% |
Ramstein AB and McConnell AFB
Ramstein AB, Germany tried 20 Air Force cases in the same years, and McConnell AFB, Kansas tried 21. Ramstein had a contested share of 59%, a median confinement of 9 months, and a punitive discharge rate of 65%. McConnell had 21% contested, a median of 3 months, and a rate of 44%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minot AFB, North Dakota | 17 | 50% | 3 of 8 | 7 months | 71% |
| Ramstein AB, Germany | 20 | 59% | 3 of 10 | 9 months | 65% |
| McConnell AFB, Kansas | 21 | 21% | 1 of 3 | 3 months | 44% |
Rule Changes and Record Limits
The cases ran from February 2024 to June 2026: 10 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 3 in 2026, a partial year. They are 3% of the 598 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which rules applied. They also do not show the evidence or plea terms.
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 2024–2026 (17 cases), compared with all 598 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)
- What Was Tried at Minot AFB, North Dakota, 2019–2023? 39 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Eglin AFB, Florida Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 17 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2024–2026: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 16 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, 2024–2026
- Kirk W. Albertson
- Nathan Rick Allred
- David Michael Cisek
- Kasey W. Hawkins
- Elizabeth M. Hernandez
- Bradley J. Palmer
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Nathan D. Royer
- Brian Michael Thompson
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.