Buckley Space Force Base is in Aurora, Colorado, within the high-density Denver metropolitan area. Unlike the Colorado Springs bases nestled against the Rockies, Buckley is an urban strategic post, positioned to leverage the talent and resources of a major city while maintaining a globally critical mission.
Buckley is home to Space Delta 4 (DEL 4), the primary unit in the Space Force’s mission of missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance. The base is the operational heart for detecting, characterizing, and tracking threats worldwide. This involves operating complex, real-time global surveillance systems and coordinating intelligence efforts across multiple agencies. Because of this focus, Buckley’s environment has a unique blend of active-duty Guardians, Airmen, civilian employees, and a high concentration of personnel from the Intelligence Community.
We’ve handled cases at Buckley for many years. When we fly into Denver International, Buckley is a short drive east. We know the Front Range Urban Corridor well: it runs through military installations from F.E. Warren south through Buckley, Peterson, and the Air Force Academy. The drive from DIA to Buckley takes you through Aurora, past strip malls and subdivisions that mask the serious work happening on base.
The challenge here is severe: every disciplinary action at Buckley might touch upon security clearance issues. Crimes are often reviewed not just for UCMJ purposes, but for their direct consequences on access to sensitive compartments. In addition to the most serious crimes under the UCMJ, like Articles 119b, 120, 120b, 128, 133, and 134, common actions at Buckley SFB come under Article 92 (violations of security protocols) or Article 134 (misuse of classified data).
Buckley’s “Golf Balls”: The Real Mission
The enormous white geodesic domes visible from Aurora and the surrounding Denver metro area are the base’s unique identifying feature, often locally referred to as the “Buckley golf balls.” They are technically known as radomes.
The radomes are large, fiberglass-composite shields that house and protect the base’s satellite antennas and other crucial space operations equipment. Their primary purpose is to protect the sensitive surveillance and tracking dishes from Colorado’s severe, rapidly changing weather (snow, hail, and high winds). These dishes are central to Buckley’s core mission: operating the Defense Support Program (DSP) and Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellations, which provide the United States and its allies with real-time, persistent global missile warning.
What “Former JAG” Means in Our Case
We served as USAF JAGs from 2001-2005 before founding this firm in 2006. Our firm’s practice has spanned more than two decades of full-time court-martial defense across every branch of the armed forces. We have appeared at bases overseas and across the United States, including every major Air Force and Space Force installation in Colorado and the surrounding western states.
We built our reputation as trial lawyers inside the Air Force and have carried that experience into independent civilian practice for over twenty years. We do not subcontract cases. We do not hand you off to junior associates or part-time lawyers.
Our Approach to Fees
We work under a flat-fee structure, not hourly billing. The reasons are simple: clarity and trust.
When we accept a case, we quote one price for each stage of the process. That fee covers every call, message, and meeting, no matter how much time it takes. There is no clock running in the background, and there are no surprise invoices. You will never have to choose between saving money and getting an answer to your question.
Flat fees also allow us to focus entirely on the case itself. We do not measure our days in six-minute increments or itemize every conversation. We work until the job is done. That freedom lets us think more clearly, move faster, and stay accessible.
Some clients’ cases end sooner because the evidence is weak, the government overreached, or we worked something beneficial out diplomatically. Others take months or longer, with an enormous amount of work. Either way, the fee does not change. We treat every case as if it were going to trial because the only way to avoid trial is to prepare as if it cannot be avoided.
Barracks Humor and Assault Misconduct
The most misunderstood part of military justice is how easily a prank can become a “felony.” Barracks humor, hazing, and horseplay are not treated as minor cultural quirks anymore. They are treated as misconduct that reflects on professionalism and respect.
Article 128, Assault, does not require injury or contact. Raising a fist or making a move that would make a reasonable person think they are about to be hit is enough. That is called an offer-type assault. When there is contact, even minimal, the law looks at the act and the intent behind it.
The intent to humiliate, dominate, or punish can turn a simple assault into a sexual one under Article 120. Courts have upheld sexual assault convictions in cases where there was no sexual motive at all. One Air Force instructor ordered his trainees to apply heat-based muscle rub to their genitals as a form of discipline. He received no confinement, but his career was over, and he had to register as a sex offender.
We’re not saying this to scare people; it is to show how military law defines boundaries differently. A slap, shove, or prank that would get a laugh in a civilian workplace can lead to a court-martial and a dishonorable discharge in a military one.
Digital Misconduct: Articles 117a and 120c
Technology has created new categories of offenses that do not involve physical contact but carry the same stigma and punishment as sexual crimes.
- Article 120c covers acts like peeping, recording someone without consent, or indecent exposure.
- Article 117a covers sharing or broadcasting an image or video of someone without their consent, even if the recording itself was consensual.
- Both laws target violations of privacy. The difference lies in when and how consent disappears. Under 120c, it is about creating the image without consent. Under 117a, it is about distributing it without consent.
- A person who records a private act with a willing partner and later shares it with a friend or posts it online can be charged under Article 117a. The same is true for forwarding an explicit image that someone sent you, even as a joke. Once you hit send, the offense is complete.
- Unsolicited explicit photos are treated as digital indecent exposure. Sending one, even to another adult, can be charged under Article 120c. The law treats the act of transmission the same as exposing yourself in public when done with intent to offend, shock, or humiliate.
- These offenses often lead to mandatory sex offender registration. Every state handles registration differently, but most treat convictions under Articles 117a and 120c as equivalent to civilian sex crimes. That label can follow you for decades, long after the military punishment is complete.
Digital evidence cases also present unique forensic issues. Deletion does not mean destruction. The metadata embedded in photos and messages often reveals creation times, device identifiers, and GPS coordinates. Defense attorneys must be fluent in these details to challenge authenticity and intent.
Offenses Involving Minors and Sting Operations
The military aggressively prosecutes offenses involving minors or even supposed minors. Many cases begin with a sting operation in which an undercover agent poses as a minor online. The accused never meets an actual child but can still be charged with solicitation or enticement under Article 134.
Solicitation involves asking someone, even an undercover agent, to commit a sexual act. Enticement involves trying to lure someone you believe to be underage to a location for a sexual purpose. The crime is complete as soon as the message is sent. The fact that the person on the other end was an investigator makes no difference.
These cases are emotionally and psychologically difficult. They require a defense attorney who can stay objective, manage the client’s fear, and focus on the technical elements of the charge. Chain of custody, intent, and lawful search parameters often determine the outcome.
Most law firms avoid these cases entirely. We do not. We have handled them for years and understand how to challenge the evidence, identify investigative overreach, and protect the client’s humanity even in the hardest environments.
Article 120 in 120 Words
Memory is not a recording; it is reconstructed from fragments and feeling. An adamant witness can still be mistaken. Each retelling changes the story, adding details. Alcohol and trauma (real or imagined) amplify distortion and false recollection. The mind fills blanks with believable fabrications. A blackout means lost memory, not lost consciousness. Broken memories are stitched together through subconscious assumption. Emotion does not prove a crime; it only proves emotion. The panel must be taught to separate feeling from fact. Reason and science are inoculations against sympathy and fear. Confirmation bias bends facts to match belief. Hindsight bias turns ordinary moments into warning signs. “Why would she lie?” has many answers. Lots of people put ideas in the accuser’s head.
Mistake of Fact in 120 Words
Mistake of fact means you honestly and reasonably thought the other person consented. “Reasonable” imagines what a sober, careful person would have believed under the circumstances. Your drunkenness is irrelevant, but hers is the most relevant fact in the case. If “blackout” is an issue in your case, that’s good, not bad. “Passed out” is bad. Once someone throws up or seems out of it, no reasonable person keeps going, no matter if she says she’s good to go. Consent to sexual activity has to exist every time, even in long-term relationships. What feels like a harmless “birthday gift” for breakfast can be charged as assault. Age can’t be guessed or hoped for. The law forgives misunderstanding, not wishful thinking.
Command Pressure, OSTC, and Early Engagement
The Office of Special Trial Counsel now makes prosecution decisions that once rested with commanders. That change means the process is more formal, more consistent, and less forgiving. The best way to influence a case is to engage early, before the OSTC finalizes the charging decision.
Trying to intimidate the command or influence the process through political or media pressure is a mistake. It turns potential allies into adversaries and locks in a decision to prosecute. Once you are the accused, you are not a rank or a title. You are simply a case file. The only leverage you have comes from facts, credibility, and a disciplined defense strategy.
Our role is to manage that process. We present exculpatory evidence early, highlight weaknesses in the government’s case, and maintain professional credibility so that prosecutors listen when we speak. The goal is not noise; it is precision.
OSI and Your Rights
Article 31(b) gives you rights that go beyond civilian Miranda warnings.
If someone in authority suspects you of an offense, they must tell you what they think you did and that you do not have to answer. Anything you say can be used against you.
That rule applies even if you are not under arrest. If an investigator or superior starts asking questions about a suspected offense, you can and should decline. The correct response is simple:
“I don’t want to make a statement. I want to talk to a lawyer.”
Once you say that, stop talking. OSI agents are trained to keep conversations going. They may act friendly, pretend to help, or suggest this is your chance to clear things up.
They might even lie about evidence, claiming to have videos or messages they do not. That is legal.
What is not legal is lying to them in return. Doing so can lead to an additional charge under Article 107 for making a false official statement.
The safest path is silence and legal counsel. Anything else invites disaster.
Call Us For Free, Talk to Us For Free
If you are under investigation or facing charges at Buckley Space Force Base, Peterson SFB, Schriever SFB, or the U.S. Air Force Academy, contact us for a confidential case review. We have defended service members at every major installation in Colorado and across the world.
Our firm brings more than two decades of full-time UCMJ experience to each case. We appear in person for every client and handle each matter ourselves from start to finish. We have represented Airmen, Guardians, and officers in every type of court-martial, from Article 15 actions to General Courts-Martial for the most serious offenses.
Call 800-319-3134 to schedule a confidential consultation. When the stakes are your career and your freedom, experience matters more than proximity.