A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
Bremerton, Washington tried 28 courts-martial in 2021. 48% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 32% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Only 41% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 64% in the rest of the service.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Bremerton, Washington › 2021
Short answer: Bremerton, Washington tried 28 courts-martial in 2021. 48% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 32% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Only 41% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 64% in the rest of the service. Article 80 (attempt) was charged in 25% of cases, compared with 13%.
A High Contested Share
The plea is recorded in 27 of the 28 cases. Of those, 14 accused pleaded guilty and 13 contested at least one charge through a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 48%, higher than the 32% for the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
The contested share at Bremerton was 26% in 2020. Navy and Marine Corps records from before December 2020 often omit the plea. The 2021 records list it for all but 1 case.
How the Contested Trials Ended
All 13 contested cases reached a verdict. 5 of them ended in a full acquittal (38%). 2 ended in a partial acquittal (15%), meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate here was higher than the 26% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
In 2020, Bremerton had 0 full acquittals in 10 contested cases that reached a verdict. Counts this small can change a lot with a few verdicts.
A Broader Mix of Charges
All 28 records list the charges, and each article counts once per case. Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge, at 36%, about the same as the 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Attempts under Article 80 were next, at 25%, compared with 13%.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 21% of cases, compared with 19%. Some less common charges appeared more often than across the service. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) appeared in 14%, compared with 5%. Article 121a (fraudulent use of credit or debit cards) appeared in 14%, compared with 3%. Article 134 (general article) was charged less often, at 18% compared with 26%. Article 92 (orders violation) was also less common, at 14% compared with 21%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 36% | 32% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 7 | 25% | 13% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 21% | 19% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 18% | 26% |
| Art. 120c Other sexual misconduct | 4 | 14% | 5% |
| Art. 121a Fraudulent use of credit cards, debit cards | 4 | 14% | 3% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 14% | 21% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 14% | 9% |
Sentences for the 23 Convicted
Of 23 cases with a conviction on at least one charge, 17 included confinement (74%). The median confinement was 6 months, shorter than the 7 months for the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
6 convictions (26%) had no confinement, compared with 15% across the service. Sentences longer than one year were 3 of 23 convictions (13%), compared with 26% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 7 convictions had sentences under 6 months, and 7 had sentences of 6 months to 1 year. 1 conviction included 5 years or more.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 26% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 7 | 30% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 30% | 26% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 9% | 21% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 5% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Of 22 convicted enlisted members, 9 received a punitive discharge: 5 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. The 41% share compares with 64% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer in the records was not dismissed.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, and these records do not show those separations.
Court Level and Seniority
General courts-martial, which can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 43% of cases (12 of 28). Their median confinement was 1 year, and 45% were contested. The 16 special courts-martial, capped at one year of confinement, had a median confinement of 36 days and a contested share of 50%.
The accused were 14 junior enlisted members, 13 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more senior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Compared With 2020 and Similar Installations
Bremerton tried 38 cases in 2020 and 28 in 2021, with the last trial on record in November 2021. The median confinement went from 4 months to 6 months. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 50% to 41%. The general court-martial share went from 34% to 43%. In small groups these changes show direction, not precise size.
Mayport, Florida (24 cases) had a contested share of 42% and a median confinement of 1.5 years. At Mayport, 67% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (22 cases) had a contested share of 22%, a median confinement of 6 months, and a punitive discharge share of 65%.
| 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 38 | 28 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 26% | 48% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 10 | 5 of 13 |
| Convictions with confinement | 79% | 74% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 50% | 41% |
| General courts-martial | 34% | 43% |
Gaps in the Record
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They also leave out cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bremerton, Washington | 28 | 48% | 5 of 13 | 6 months | 41% |
| Mayport, Florida | 24 | 42% | 2 of 10 | 1.5 years | 67% |
| Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 22 | 22% | 0 of 4 | 6 months | 65% |
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Bremerton, Washington with a trial date in 2021 (28 cases).
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Bremerton, Washington: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020 (previous / next)
- What Bremerton, Washington Tried in 2023 (previous / next)
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Bremerton, Washington, 2021
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.