Ellsworth Air Force Base: The B-1, and the B-21 to Come
At the edge of the Black Hills in western South Dakota, Ellsworth Air Force Base is home to the 28th Bomb Wing and its B-1B Lancers, and it is about to become something bigger: the first operating base for the B-21 Raider and the home of its training unit, which makes Ellsworth one of the Air Force's true growth bases. The B-1 crews here fly a heavy conventional bomber, and the post sits at Box Elder beside Rapid City, the gateway to Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and the Sturgis rally, in cold, windy high-plains country far from any large city. As the B-21 and its nuclear mission arrive, the scrutiny on the people here only climbs.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and Airmen fly us in from around the world because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, not by which lawyer is nearest the gate. When the wings and the clearance can be lost before any verdict, getting your own counsel early is what protects the career.
South Dakota's Own Fighter Ace
The standard here is set by South Dakota's own, Captain Joseph J. Foss, a Sioux Falls native who became the Marine Corps' great fighter ace over Guadalcanal. Leading his flight against larger formations again and again from October 1942 through January 1943, Foss personally shot down twenty-six enemy aircraft and broke up bomber raids on the airfield his side could not afford to lose. He took on long odds and kept winning. That refusal to be outmatched is the standard we bring to a case at Ellsworth.
Why Airmen at Ellsworth 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 bomb wing on the edge of the B-21 era will make an example of an Airman to keep its standards beyond question. For a rated crew member there is a second front, because an allegation can pull you off flying status by a Flying Evaluation Board on a standard far below a conviction, so the criminal case and the aviation career are two fights at once. A serious case is investigated by the 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. The 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base
We handle every type of court martial at Ellsworth. The charges below are the ones we see most, not the only ones we take.
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. A conviction can mean confinement and a federal record, with registration required for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law, and for a rated officer the same allegation can ground you while the case is still open. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof.
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 in Rapid City ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Drugs (UCMJ Article 112a). A positive urinalysis is one of the most common ways a young Airman's career comes apart, and for aircrew it grounds you on top of the criminal case. But a positive test is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt: the collection, the chain of custody, the lab work, and whether any use was knowing and wrongful all remain the government's to prove.
Drunken Operation and Dereliction (UCMJ Articles 113 and 92). A night out that ends in a DUI is charged as drunken or reckless operation under Article 113, and a lapse against a flight discipline rule or a standing order is charged as dereliction or a failure to obey under Article 92, either of which can put a rated Airman in front of a board as well as a court. Both still require the government to prove the elements, an applicable duty or lawful order, a violation, and the state of mind required by the charged theory or reckless operation, impairment, or a prohibited alcohol concentration, as charged, not just an accusation.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Airman who calls us from Ellsworth is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, the 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 wings, your clearance, your career, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base, reach out for a free, confidential 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 Ellsworth. Do I have to talk to them?
No. Under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, and you can invoke both before the interview begins. OSI is gathering evidence, not offering a chance to explain, and a statement can drive both the criminal case and an action against your flying status or your clearance. Decline, ask for the Area Defense Counsel or your own lawyer, and say nothing until you have one.
I'm rated aircrew. If I beat the charge, can I still lose my wings?
Yes, because a Flying Evaluation Board is a separate proceeding with a lower standard than a conviction. You can win the court martial and still lose flying status if the board side is not fought, which is why the underlying allegation has to be defended on both fronts from the start. We handle the criminal case and the aviation board together.
I'm under an Article 120 investigation. Will I have to register as a sex offender if I'm convicted?
A court martial conviction for a covered Article 120 offense triggers registration duties under the applicable federal and state law, with requirements and duration determined by the covered conviction and jurisdiction. The entire defense is aimed at defeating the charge or reducing it to an offense that carries no registration, and the investigation and the charging decision are where these cases are most often turned. Get your own counsel involved before you ever sit down with OSI.