Aviano Air Base: America's Fighter Wing South of the Alps
In the Friuli countryside of northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps near Pordenone, Aviano Air Base is home to the 31st Fighter Wing, the only U.S. Air Force fighter wing south of the Alps and NATO's frontline air power in the southern region. The wing flies F-16 Fighting Falcons from its two fighter squadrons, with rescue squadrons and an air control unit alongside them. The Airmen here are the fighter squadrons, the maintainers who keep the jets flying, and the support behind them, many living out in the Friuli towns and the prosecco wine country, an hour from Venice and a long way from home.
A serious charge in Italy is a long way from home, and it deserves a lawyer who tries court martial cases for a living. That is all this firm does, and its European caseload has grown year over year since the move to Tampa. We come to Aviano and try the case, because for a contested matter you want trial experience in your corner, not a short drive.
The Scout Who Took the Hard Ground Alone
Northern Italy was hard ground to take, and one of the men who took it was Private First Class John D. Magrath, the first soldier of the 10th Mountain Division to earn the Medal of Honor. On April 14, 1945, in the mountains of northern Italy, Magrath volunteered to scout a German position alone, armed only with a rifle. He charged straight into the fire, killed the crew of a machine gun and took the weapon, then carried it across an open field under fire and used it to knock out two more nests, circling behind a fourth position to clear it as well. He opened the way for his company's attack and was killed later that day gathering casualty reports. He gave everything to break the position in front of him. That refusal to wait for someone else to take the hard ground is the standard we bring to a case at Aviano.
Why Airmen at Aviano Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Airmen fly us in from all over the world because of our trial record. The military justice system is not built to find the truth; it exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a high visibility wing will make an example of an Airman to keep standards in view. A serious case is investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and for sexual assault and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. Your Area Defense Counsel may be sharp but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Airmen serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at Aviano Air Base
These are the most common cases at Aviano Air Base. They are examples, not limits, and we defend service members against the full range of UCMJ offenses.
Flight Status, Sensitive Missions, and Dereliction (UCMJ Article 92). For a rated officer or career enlisted aviator, an allegation can ground you before it ever reaches a courtroom. A flight discipline matter, a safety incident, a positive test, or any serious charge can pull you off flying status and send your aviation service to a Flying Evaluation Board, which can end your flying career on a standard far below what a court martial requires. For the crews and staff whose access is the job, the same investigation can suspend the security clearance the assignment depends on, a separate administrative track that runs on what the criminal case finds, so a hard defense of the underlying allegation is the best protection for it. We defend the criminal charge and the Flying Evaluation Board together, because either consequence can end a career on its own.
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). These allegations route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and the command treats a report as established before the investigation is finished, all the more so on a high profile wing where senior eyes are on every case. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof, because a conviction means confinement, a federal record, and a place on a sex offender registry.
Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and it treats strangulation or suffocation as its own charge that the government can bring even with no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end an Air Force career because an Airman has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny, Drugs, and Off Duty Conduct (UCMJ Articles 121, 112a, and 134). Property cases turn on the intent the government has to prove rather than assume, and drug cases turn on the chain of custody and the government's burden to prove any use was knowing and wrongful. An Airman is subject to the UCMJ off duty, so a night out in Pordenone, a weekend down in Venice, or a wreck on the road home that ends badly comes back to the command. A serious off base incident in Italy can also be taken up by the Italian carabinieri and prosecuted in an Italian court, on a separate track from your command, so get counsel involved before you talk to anyone.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Airman who calls us from Aviano is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, your Area Defense Counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly. But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your flying status, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and the applicable military sentencing parameters set a confinement range the judge has to work within, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, with a departure requiring specific facts in writing, plus any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, on a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight. The court’s jurisdiction and the convicted offense determine which sentencing rules apply; some offenses use separate sentencing criteria rather than these ranges.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial at Aviano, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
Cases Connected to Aviano Air Base
These cases include trials, hearings, investigations, and administrative matters. A connection to this location does not necessarily mean that the trial occurred here.
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Closes Multi-Spec Domestic Violence GCM on AF MSgt at Aviano with Most Specifications Dismissed; Time Served, No Punitive Discharge
FAQ
I'm a pilot at Aviano and I've been pulled off flying status over an investigation. Can I lose my flying status even if I beat the charge?
Yes, because the Flying Evaluation Board and the court martial are separate tracks with separate standards. For a rated officer or career enlisted aviator, that board can act on the same allegation on a standard far below what a conviction requires, so you can win the criminal case and still lose your flying career if the board side is not fought. That is why the underlying allegation has to be defended on both fronts from the start, and we handle the criminal charge and the board together.
OSI wants to interview me at Aviano. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for an OSI interview or answer their questions. Under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, and you can invoke both at any point, including before the interview begins. OSI is collecting evidence, not giving you a chance to explain. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
Something happened off base in Italy. Could the Italian authorities get involved too?
They can. Under the agreement that governs U.S. forces here, the Italian authorities can claim jurisdiction over off base conduct, so a serious matter can be investigated by the carabinieri and prosecuted in an Italian court on a separate track from the UCMJ case your command is pursuing. Investigations in the two systems may overlap, and what you say to one can affect the other, so do not give a statement to anyone until you have talked to a defense lawyer. The SOFA allocates primary jurisdiction and limits a second trial for the same offense; overlapping investigations do not mean that both countries may freely try the same charge.