Inside 12 Courts-Martial at Robins AFB, Georgia, 2016–2018
Robins AFB, Georgia held 12 courts-martial from 2016 to 2018. The median confinement there was 1.8 years, compared with 4 months across the Air Force in those years. 1 of the 12 cases ended in a full acquittal (8%), lower than the Air Force rate of 20%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Robins AFB, Georgia › 2016–2018
Short answer: Robins AFB, Georgia held 12 courts-martial from 2016 to 2018. The median confinement there was 1.8 years, compared with 4 months across the Air Force in those years. 1 of the 12 cases ended in a full acquittal (8%), lower than the Air Force rate of 20%.
Confinement Terms Were Longer Than the Air Force Median
Of the 11 convictions, 91% included confinement. The median confinement was 1.8 years. Across all Air Force cases in 2016–2018, the median was 4 months.
A quarter of the confinement terms at Robins AFB were 5 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence. All of these are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in its case.
Which Articles Were Charged?
Charge lists exist for 11 of the 12 cases. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation), Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child), and Article 134 (the general article) each appeared in 4 cases, or 36%.
Article 120b was charged in 36% of cases here, compared with 10% Air Force-wide. Article 118 (murder) and Article 119a (death or injury of an unborn child) each appeared in 1 case. A case with several articles counts once under each of them.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Air Force as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 36% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 36% | 10% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 36% | 25% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 3 | 27% | 11% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 1 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 1 | 9% | 2% |
| Art. 118 Murder | 1 | 9% | 1% |
| Art. 119a Death or injury of an unborn child | 1 | 9% | 0% |
How Often Did a Case End in Full Acquittal?
1 case ended in a full acquittal, meaning a finding of not guilty on every charge. That is 8% of the 12 cases. The Air Force rate for the same years was 20%.
Air Force records from this period seldom list a guilty plea. For that reason the acquittal rate here uses all cases as its base, not contested cases only.
Panels Decided Most of These Cases
Members decided guilt in 8 of the 12 cases: 4 enlisted panels and 4 officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 4, or 33%. The accused usually makes the choice between a judge alone and a panel.
Rank, Timing, and Share of the Air Force
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 50% of the accused, compared with 63% across the Air Force. NCOs were 33% and officers 17%.
Trials ran from May 2016 through April 2018: 6 in 2016, 3 in 2017, and 3 in 2018. The 12 cases were 1% of the 991 Air Force courts-martial in those years.
Bases of Similar Size
Hill AFB, Utah and Moody AFB, Georgia each tried 20 Air Force cases in the same years. Their median confinement was 6 months and 4 months, both shorter than at Robins AFB.
A punitive discharge (a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge) followed 8 of 9 enlisted convictions at Robins AFB. The share was 53% at Hill AFB and 67% at Moody AFB.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robins AFB, Georgia | 12 | — | — | 1.8 years | 8 of 9 |
| Hill AFB, Utah | 20 | — | — | 6 months | 53% |
| Moody AFB, Georgia | 20 | — | — | 4 months | 67% |
Rules in Force and Limits of the Records
Every trial here came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements came later and did not apply to these cases.
The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, or administrative separations. Air Force records also rarely list the charges in a full acquittal.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Robins AFB, Georgia with a trial date in 2016–2018 (12 cases), compared with all 991 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
- Robins AFB, Georgia: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Air Force Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Robins AFB, Georgia, 2021–2023? 10 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Eglin AFB, Florida Courts-Martial, 2016–2018: What 12 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, 2016–2018? 12 Courts-Martial (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 Robins AFB, Georgia, 2016–2018
- Steven D. Dubriske
- Patricia A. Gruen
- Christina M. Jimenez
- Andrew Kalavanos
- J. Wesley Moore
- Lyndell M. Powell
- Vance H. Spath
- Tiffany M. Wagner
- Matthew S. Ward
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.