RAF Lakenheath: The Liberty Wing in the Suffolk Countryside
In the flat farm country of Suffolk, in the east of England, RAF Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, the Liberty Wing, the largest U.S. Air Force combat wing in the United Kingdom. Its squadrons fly the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F-35A Lightning II, the first American F-35s based in Europe, with the fighter mix shifting toward the F-35 as the wing transitions. The Airmen here are the fighter squadrons, the maintainers who keep the jets flying, and the support that runs a frontline wing, many of them living out among the Suffolk and Norfolk villages near Brandon, Bury St Edmunds, and Cambridge, a long way from home in a quiet corner of England.
A serious court martial is the wrong place to settle for the nearest available lawyer, even an ocean from home. Trying these cases is all Bilecki Law Group does, and a real share of that work is now in Europe, run from Tampa. We get on a plane and fight, because what wins out in a contested case is the trial record, not the postcode.
The Lone Fighter Who Took On Thirty
Lakenheath is a fighter wing, and no fighter pilot fits its tradition like Major James H. Howard, who flew his P-51 Mustang out of England. On January 11, 1944, escorting a formation of B-17s deep over Germany, Howard found himself alone when the rest of his group broke off after other targets and a swarm of German fighters bore in on the bombers. He did not wait for help. For more than half an hour he attacked the enemy formation single handed, breaking up pass after pass, knocking several down, and staying in the fight even after three of his four guns jammed. The bombers he covered made it through, and Howard became the only fighter pilot in the European theater to receive the Medal of Honor. That willingness to take on the whole formation alone is the standard we bring to a case at Lakenheath.
Why Airmen at Lakenheath 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. We have handled several cases at Lakenheath and nearby Mildenhall in recent years and won them. The military justice system is not built to find the truth; it exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a high visibility combat 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 RAF Lakenheath
These are among the most common allegations at RAF Lakenheath. The list is not exhaustive, and we defend the full range of UCMJ charges.
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. On a wing flying the F-35 and other sensitive missions, the same investigation can suspend the security clearance or access 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 the local pubs or a wreck on the narrow Suffolk roads, where Americans are driving on the left, comes back to the command. A serious off base incident can also be taken up by the British police and tried in a British 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 will not pretend that every Airman who calls us from Lakenheath 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 where the sentencing parameters apply, a judge sentences within a set confinement range, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, and must state specific facts in writing to support a departure, along with 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 Lakenheath, 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 RAF Lakenheath
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 Preserves Suppression Record on AF MSgt at RAF Lakenheath; Mixed-Findings Trial Result Overturned on Appeal
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Wins NOT GUILTY on Both Article 120 Sexual Assault Specifications Including Etizolam Drugging Allegation on AF Captain at RAF Lakenheath
FAQ
I'm a pilot at Lakenheath 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 Lakenheath. 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 the UK. Could the British authorities get involved too?
They can. Under the agreement that governs U.S. forces here, the United Kingdom can claim jurisdiction over off base conduct, so a serious matter can be investigated by the British police and prosecuted in a British 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.
Have you actually defended cases at Lakenheath?
Yes, and won them. We have handled several court martial cases at Lakenheath and nearby Mildenhall over the last few years, and when we are out here we stay at the Bull, the same old inn down the road where a good number of the area defense counsel end up. We know this base and this corner of Suffolk, and we fly in ready to fight.