What Was Tried at Osan AB, South Korea, 2019–2023? 18 Courts-Martial
The records hold 18 courts-martial at Osan AB, South Korea from 2019–2023, and 9 of them were tried in 2023. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 42% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 21% in the whole Air Force.
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Trends › By Installation › Osan AB, South Korea › 2019–2023
Short answer: The records hold 18 courts-martial at Osan AB, South Korea from 2019–2023, and 9 of them were tried in 2023. Article 134 (the general article) was charged in 42% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 21% in the whole Air Force. Punitive discharges were uncommon: 17% of convicted enlisted members received one, compared with 56% Air Force-wide.
Most Cases Came in the Later Years
Osan tried 1 case in 2019 and 1 in 2020. The yearly count was higher after that: 3 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 9 in 2023. The 18 cases are 1% of the 1,361 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
The earliest case was tried in March 2019 and the latest in November 2023. The records give trial dates only, so they cannot show when the offenses took place.
Orders, Assault, and the General Article
Only 12 of the 18 records list charges. In those 12, Article 134 appeared 5 times (42%). Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 128 (assault) appeared 4 times each (33%), above the Air Force shares of 16% and 19%.
5 other articles appeared in 2 cases each (17%): Article 86 (AWOL), Article 115 (malingering before 2019, communicating threats since), Article 121 (larceny), Article 90 (willfully disobeying a superior officer), and Article 107 (false official statements). Each case counts once under every article it lists.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Air Force docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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% |
Discharges After Conviction
There were 12 enlisted members convicted. Just 2 of them received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and only 1 of the 2 was dishonorable. That rate, 17%, compares with 56% for the Air Force as a whole.
Members who left court without a punitive discharge could still face administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Confinement Terms
Of the 12 convictions, 67% included confinement. The median term was 8 months. The rest of the Air Force had a median of 4 months. At least a quarter of the terms were 2 years or longer.
Each figure is the sentence the court announced at trial. Later caps under a plea agreement, clemency, and appeals are not reflected, and the sentence covers all charges in the case.
Pleas, Verdicts, and Panels
17 records list the plea: 12 not-guilty or mixed pleas and 5 guilty pleas. That makes 71% contested, compared with 50% across the Air Force. Contested means the accused pleaded not guilty to at least 1 charge.
Full acquittals came in 50% of the 12 decided contested cases, close to the 51% Air Force-wide. 2 more cases were partial acquittals, with a not-guilty finding on some charges and a guilty finding on others. Because Air Force results list one verdict per case, partial acquittals show up only through appeals opinions.
Panels of members heard 8 cases (6 enlisted and 2 officer). A military judge alone heard 10 of the 18 (56%). In the contested cases, members decided 8 of 12 (67%).
Who Was Charged, and at What Level
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and NCOs (E-5 to E-9) were 9 each, and no officer was tried. Elsewhere in the Air Force, 64% of the accused were junior enlisted. General courts-martial made up 39% of the cases (7 of 18).
Earlier Years and Peer Installations
In 2016–2018 Osan tried 10 cases, roughly 3 a year, against roughly 4 a year after. Its median confinement then was 11 months, and 80% of its cases were general courts-martial. 3 of 6 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge in that period.
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and USAF Academy, Colorado each had 20 cases in 2019–2023. Their punitive discharge rates were 73% and 7%.
| 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% |
Gaps
Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and plea terms are all outside these records. Air Force records seldom list the charges in a full acquittal.
| 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% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Osan AB, South Korea with a trial date in 2019–2023 (18 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
- Osan AB, South Korea: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Osan AB, South Korea Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 11 Cases Show (another period)
- Fairchild AFB, Washington Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 18 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Goodfellow AFB, Texas Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: 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
- 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.