What Changed at Osan AB, South Korea After 2019? 10 Cases vs. 18
Osan AB, South Korea had 18 courts-martial in 2019–2023, compared with 10 in 2016–2018. Only 2 of 12 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (17%), compared with 56% across the Air Force. Of the cases with a plea recorded, 71% were contested, compared with 50%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Osan AB, South Korea › Before and after 2019
Short answer: Osan AB, South Korea had 18 courts-martial in 2019–2023, compared with 10 in 2016–2018. Only 2 of 12 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (17%), compared with 56% across the Air Force. Of the cases with a plea recorded, 71% were contested, compared with 50%.
Few Punitive Discharges
Of 12 convicted enlisted members, 2 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (17%), and 1 of those was dishonorable. Across the Air Force, the share was 56%. In 2016–2018, 3 of 6 convicted enlisted members at Osan received one.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
| 2016–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 10 | 18 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 71% |
| Convictions with confinement | 4 of 7 | 67% |
| Median confinement | 11 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 3 of 6 | 17% |
| General courts-martial | 80% | 39% |
Most Cases Were Contested
Of the 17 records that list a plea, 12 were contested and 5 were guilty pleas. A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share, 71%, was higher than the 50% Air Force-wide.
Of the 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 6 ended in a full acquittal (50%) and 2 in a partial acquittal (17%). The full-acquittal rate was close to the 51% Air Force-wide. Air Force results give one verdict per case, so a partial acquittal appears only when an appeals opinion reports it.
Panels in Contested Cases
Members heard 44% of cases: 6 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 10. Among the 12 contested cases, members heard 8 (67%). The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel decides guilt.
Confinement
Confinement was part of 67% of the 12 convictions. Among those terms, the median was 8 months, compared with 4 months Air Force-wide and 11 months at Osan in 2016–2018. A quarter of the terms were 2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Charges
Charges are listed in 12 of the 18 records. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 5 cases (42%), compared with 21% Air Force-wide. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 128 (assault) each appeared in 4 cases (33%), compared with 16% and 19%.
Article 86 (AWOL), Article 121 (larceny), Article 90 (willfully disobeying a superior officer), and Article 107 (false official statements) each appeared in 2 cases (17%). Article 115, which covered malingering before 2019 and communicating threats since, also appeared in 2 cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Air Force cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 42% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 33% | 16% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 4 | 33% | 19% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 2 | 17% | 5% |
| Art. 115 Malingering before 2019, communicating threats since | 2 | 17% | 4% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 17% | 4% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 2 | 17% | 2% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 17% | 6% |
Rank, Court Level, and Case Counts
The accused were 9 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 9 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), with no officers. That mix is more senior than the rest of the Air Force, where 64% were junior enlisted.
General courts-martial heard 7 of the 18 cases (39%), compared with 53% Air Force-wide and 80% at Osan in 2016–2018. The records show 1 case in 2019, 1 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 9 in 2023.
Similar Bases
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each tried 20 cases in the same years. RAF Mildenhall had 1 full acquittal in 7 decided contested cases and a punitive discharge rate of 73%. USAF Academy had 3 in 9 and a rate of 7%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osan AB, South Korea | 18 | 71% | 6 of 12 | 8 months | 17% |
| RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom | 20 | 50% | 1 of 7 | 8 months | 73% |
| USAF Academy, Colorado | 20 | 75% | 3 of 9 | 4 months | 7% |
Limits of the Records
The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations. Air Force records rarely list charges in full acquittals.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Osan AB, South Korea in 2016–2018 (10) and 2019–2023 (18).
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
- Osan AB, South Korea: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Osan AB, South Korea, 2019–2023? 18 Courts-Martial
- Osan AB, South Korea Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 11 Cases Show
- Andersen AFB, Guam Before and After 2019: How Its Courts-Martial Changed
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2016–2018 vs. 2019–2023: A Side-by-Side Look
- Aviano AB, Italy, 2019–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 2016–2018 vs. 2019–2023: A Side-by-Side Look
- Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 2019–2023 vs. 2024–2026: A Side-by-Side Look
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Osan AB, South Korea, 2019–2023
- James R. Dorman
- Christopher D. James
- Matthew N. McCall
- Tyler B. Musselman
- Jennifer E. Powell
- Matthew P. Stoffel
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.