What Was Tried at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2019–2023? 24 Courts-Martial
Offutt AFB, Nebraska tried 24 courts-martial from 2019–2023. Only 17% of cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 50% in all Air Force cases in those years. Of the convicted enlisted members, 67% received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% Air Force-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Offutt AFB, Nebraska › 2019–2023
Short answer: Offutt AFB, Nebraska tried 24 courts-martial from 2019–2023. Only 17% of cases with a plea recorded were contested, compared with 50% in all Air Force cases in those years. Of the convicted enlisted members, 67% received a punitive discharge, compared with 56% Air Force-wide. All 21 convictions included confinement.
Most Cases Ended in a Guilty Plea
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 24 records, 18 list a plea: 15 guilty pleas and 3 contested cases. That is 17% contested, compared with 50% in all Air Force cases in those years. Air Force records never report plea agreements, so the terms of those guilty pleas are not known.
3 of the 24 cases ended in a full acquittal (12%), compared with 24% in all Air Force cases. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea. For that reason, this rate is measured against all cases, not against contested cases only.
Confinement in Every Conviction
All 21 convictions carried confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as in the rest of the Air Force. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. In all Air Force cases in those years, 12% of convictions carried no confinement.
13 convictions (62%) carried under 6 months of confinement, compared with 50% Air Force-wide. 5 of 21 (24%) carried more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 17%. No sentence reached 5 years. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 0 | 0% | 12% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 62% | 50% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 14% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 5 | 24% | 17% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 6% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Offutt's 13 general courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.5 years. Of the 9 with a plea recorded, 3 were contested.
Offutt's 11 special courts-martial had a median confinement of 3 months. Of the 9 with a plea recorded, 0 were contested. General courts-martial made up 54% of the cases (13 of 24).
Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Of the 21 enlisted members convicted, 14 received one (67%). That is higher than in all Air Force cases (56%). 3 of the 14 were dishonorable discharges. No officers appear among the accused. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Drugs, Assault, and Some Rare Charges
21 of the 24 records list the charges. A case can count under several articles. Article 112a, the drug article, appeared in 43% of those cases, about the same as the 41% Air Force-wide. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 19%, the same as Air Force-wide. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 14%, compared with 5%.
Some less common charges also appear: Article 127 (extortion) in 2 cases, Article 104a (fraudulent enlistment) in 1, and Article 82 (soliciting) in 1.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Air Force docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 43% | 41% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 19% | 19% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 3 | 14% | 5% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 14% | 21% |
| Art. 127 Extortion | 2 | 10% | 0% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 104a Fraudulent enlistment | 1 | 5% | 0% |
| Art. 82 Soliciting | 1 | 5% | 1% |
Who Was Accused
The accused were 17 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 7 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 officers or warrant officers. That mix is more junior than Air Force-wide, where 64% were junior enlisted.
The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 21% of cases with the forum listed: 4 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. The other 19 cases were judge alone.
Compared With 2016–2018
In 2016–2018, Offutt had 16 cases, about 5 a year. That is the same pace as since, counting full years only. By year, 2019–2023 had 6 cases in 2019, 6 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 3 in 2022, and 7 in 2023. That is 2% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
Median confinement went from 2 months to 4 months. Convictions with confinement went from 77% to 100%. Punitive discharges went from 55% to 67%, and the general court-martial share went from 44% to 54%. Small groups change with a few cases, so these figures show direction, not precision.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 16 | 24 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 17% |
| Convictions with confinement | 77% | 100% |
| Median confinement | 2 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 55% | 67% |
| General courts-martial | 44% | 54% |
Offutt Compared With McConnell and Barksdale
McConnell AFB, Kansas and Barksdale AFB, Louisiana tried a similar number of cases. McConnell had 57% of cases contested and Barksdale had 40%, compared with 17% at Offutt. The median confinement was 4 months at McConnell and 2 months at Barksdale. Punitive discharge rates were 65% and 56%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offutt AFB, Nebraska | 24 | 17% | 2 of 3 | 4 months | 67% |
| McConnell AFB, Kansas | 24 | 57% | 3 of 7 | 4 months | 65% |
| Barksdale AFB, Louisiana | 23 | 40% | 4 of 8 | 2 months | 56% |
What the Records Cannot Show
Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, offense dates, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals, so the charge shares above come mostly from cases that ended in a conviction. The records also give no reason why a case went to one court level or the other.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Offutt AFB, Nebraska with a trial date in 2019–2023 (24 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
- Offutt AFB, Nebraska: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2016–2018? 16 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Inside 11 Courts-Martial at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2024–2026 (another period)
- McConnell AFB, Kansas Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 24 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Inside 23 Courts-Martial at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 2019–2023 (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 Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2019–2023
- Jefferson B. Brown
- Elizabeth M. Hernandez
- Christopher D. James
- James E. Key III
- Shad R. Kidd
- Michael A. Lewis
- Sterling C. Pendleton
- Dayle P. Percle
- Julie L. Pitvorec
- Jennifer J. Raab
- Mark F. Rosenow
- Matthew D. Talcott
- Charles G. Warren
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.