Alaska is one of the most strategically important regions in the U.S. military. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), the Air Force side of which is still commonly called Elmendorf, is on the outskirts of Anchorage and is the home of PACAF’s Eleventh Air Force, which conducts air operations across the region. It houses the 3rd Wing, the 673rd Air Base Wing, and Alaska NORAD Region. Those operations include Arctic defense, air mobility, early warning systems, and rapid response.
Elmendorf’s Mission and Strategic Role
The JBER mission reaches across the Pacific and up into the polar region. It’s one of the first lines of response in any potential conflict with Russia or China. The base’s military personnel and mission can conflict with Alaska Native communities, state law enforcement, and environmental groups, though JBER has working relationships with all of those entities and uses the civilian prison, the Anchorage Correctional Complex, to house members being held in pretrial confinement. JBER is a joint base in name more than function. The Air Force and Army sides of the base share some security and support personnel, but they’re truly distinct entities. Their military justice systems are totally distinct with no crossover at all.
JBER’s Unique Setting
The land under JBER is traditional territory of the Upper Inlet Dena’ina. The base maintains a formal government-to-government relationship with the Native Village of Eklutna. In 2020 the installation put up “Welcome to the Dena’ina Homeland” signs at the gates after consultation with the tribe. Archaeological work continues on the base; a 1,000-year-old Dene food cache was excavated there as recently as 2024–2025. Downtown Anchorage is only a short drive away. The Hotel Captain Cook sits overlooking Cook Inlet; the Crow’s Nest on the top floor has the classic view of the water and the mountains. In December and January, the city regularly gets heavy hoarfrost that coats trees, fences, and cars in thick white ice crystals; in summer, the surge of tourism creates cost and lodging concerns during courts-martial.
How Geography Affects Cases at JBER
Alaska’s geography causes headaches for lawyers, judges, and other people involved in military justice who have to travel from Washington State and other areas in the lower 48. Travel in and out of Anchorage is expensive and frequently disrupted by weather. Winter conditions can cause havoc for those flying in or out, and base closures due to weather aren’t rare. Cases sometimes take longer than they would at other installations simply because of travel delays and base closures. Those obstacles have no effect on UCMJ law, but they influence how long investigations last and how quickly a case can be brought to an Article 32 or to trial.
OSTC at Elmendorf
Elmendorf is part of District 6 in the Office of Special Trial Counsel command structure. District 6 is headquartered at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. They staff JBER with one on-site OSTC counsel, but other OSTC attorneys can step in as necessary. Like other OSTC offices, OSTC at Elmendorf is responsible for prosecuting “covered offenses,” which are the most serious crimes under the UCMJ. These include violent crimes like murder, manslaughter, and domestic violence; sex crimes like sextortion, revenge porn, unlawful recording, and sexual assault; CSAM and other offenses against children; and other high-level offenses.
Recent Docket Activity at JBER
Current and recent court-martial dockets at JBER show a concentration of covered offenses (the most serious cases, which fall under the exclusive domain of the Office of Special Trial Counsel) and closely related charges. The JBER docket typically involves:
- Article 128b, domestic violence, including strangulation
- Article 120, sexual assault and abusive sexual contact
- Article 120b, sexual abuse of a child
- Article 134, CSAM distribution and possession
- Related charges that sometimes get tacked onto the covered offenses, such as cruelty and maltreatment, disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer, and drunk on duty
As of July 2026, recent cases include CSAM distribution that resulted in a dishonorable discharge and three years of confinement; multiple specifications of sexual abuse of a child, with a sentence of over nine years; an Article 120 sexual assault conviction; a full acquittal on a multi-charge case that included sexual assault and domestic violence; and a court-martial conviction for domestic violence against a child under 16. Domestic violence reports are always common. Sexual assault allegations pop up at Elmendorf like every other military installation, though OSTC tends to push pure “he said, she said” cases back to the base office and keep only those with strong corroboration. CSAM cases at JBER typically begin with a tip from a service provider and lead to the seizure of an airman’s phone, tablet, game system, and other devices. Sometimes these and other Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) cases see overlap among military, Alaska, federal, and Canadian law enforcement. The same categories of cases appear at Air Force and other service installations throughout the military, so the nature of case work is not unique to JBER. If anything is unique about military justice in the region, other than the occasional involvement of the Mounties, it’s how weather and distance impact travel, scheduling, and cost.
Gagne, Scherer & Associates: Elmendorf AFB (JBER) Lawyers
Our firm represents Airmen and Soldiers at JBER and across Alaska. Gagne, Scherer & Associates handles sexual assault, domestic violence, CSAM, and other serious UCMJ cases, with a proactive strategy unlike most attorneys, who prefer to stay out of sight until court-martial charges come. If you are under investigation or facing charges at Elmendorf or anywhere else in Alaska, call us at (224) 935-6172.