Nellis AFB: The Home of the Fighter Pilot
Eight miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, Nellis Air Force Base is the home of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, the Weapons School, the Red Flag exercises, and the Thunderbirds. This is where the Air Force trains its best fighter aircrews and writes the tactics the rest of the force flies, a base full of rated aviators, weapons officers, and the maintainers who keep them flying. Airmen and families live out in North Las Vegas, Aliante, Sunrise Manor, and toward Henderson, and the twenty-four-hour gambling and nightlife of Vegas, right outside the gate, drive a real off duty profile of financial trouble, alcohol, and conduct that follows Airmen back to the squadron. A command that trains the force's elite will move hard to protect that reputation.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and Airmen fly us in from our office in Tampa because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, and we bring it wherever the case is.
The Ace Who Kept Asking to Fly
Nellis is the home of the fighter pilot, and no American ever flew the part better than Major Richard I. Bong, the Ace of Aces. Flying the P-38 in the Pacific, Bong shot down forty enemy aircraft, more than any American in history, including eight during the cited period after he had already been assigned to a gunnery instructor's job, repeatedly talking his way back into combat to fly voluntary missions over heavily defended targets. He had every reason to stay out of the fight and kept choosing it anyway. That refusal to take the easy way is the standard we bring to a case at Nellis.
Why Airmen at Nellis Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Airmen fly us in from all over the country 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 command that trains the force's elite aircrews will make an example of an Airman to protect that image. 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 commander but goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. Your Area Defense Counsel may be capable 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 Nellis Air Force Base
This is not the whole list of what we do at Nellis Air Force Base. We take every kind of court martial, and these are simply the charges that come up most.
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 in a tight flying community where word of an allegation travels fast and the command wants to look decisive. 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 can mean confinement and a federal record, with registration required for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law.
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, the usual charge when a night out on the Strip ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny, Fraud, and Off Duty Financial Conduct (UCMJ Articles 121, 107, and 134). Las Vegas works on young Airmen, and gambling debt, bad checks, and money trouble are a real driver of cases here. The government treats missing property as larceny under Article 121, and it reads a false claim, a misused government travel card, or a dishonorable failure to pay a debt as fraud or a false official statement under Articles 107 and 134. But owing money is not the same as a crime, and the government still has to prove a knowing falsity and an intent to deceive or to deprive, not just that you fell behind.
Drugs and Off Duty Conduct (UCMJ Articles 112a and 134). Drug cases often turn on the chain of custody and the government's burden to prove any use was knowing and wrongful. Marijuana is one worth flagging: it is legal in Nevada, but it is still a federal controlled substance and a court martial offense under Article 112a, and being legal off base does not make it lawful for an Airman, especially a rated aviator on flying status. A positive test is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt, so the collection, the chain of custody, and whether any use was knowing all remain the government's to prove.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Airman who calls us from Nellis 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 wings, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and the applicable sentencing parameters tie a confinement range to the offense, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, that a judge can depart from only by stating specific facts in writing, on top of any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, for 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 Nellis Air Force Base, 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.
FAQ
OSI wants to interview me at Nellis. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for an Office of Special Investigations 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, and it takes very little to be titled as a subject, a label that follows you for years. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
I'm a rated aircrew member and I've been pulled off flying status over an investigation. Can I lose my wings even if I beat the charge?
Yes, because the Flying Evaluation Board and the court martial are separate tracks with separate standards. The board can act on the same allegation on a far lower standard than a conviction requires, so you can win the criminal case and still lose your aviation 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 Flying Evaluation Board together.
Something happened off base in Las Vegas. Can the Air Force court martial me for it too?
Yes. Nevada and the military are separate sovereigns, so the same incident can be prosecuted by the Clark County authorities and by a court martial, and a civilian dismissal or even an acquittal does not end the UCMJ exposure. The command does not have to wait for the local prosecutor, and a statement to one system can be used by the other, so do not talk to the police or OSI until you have a defense lawyer.