Bremerton, Washington in 2024: 17 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Bremerton, Washington had 17 courts-martial in 2024, down from 24 in 2023. The median confinement was 47 days, compared with 5 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of the convicted enlisted members, 43% received a punitive discharge, compared with 58% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Bremerton, Washington › 2024
Short answer: Bremerton, Washington had 17 courts-martial in 2024, down from 24 in 2023. The median confinement was 47 days, compared with 5 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of the convicted enlisted members, 43% received a punitive discharge, compared with 58% service-wide.
Fewer Cases, More General Courts-Martial
The 2024 records show 17 cases at Bremerton, tried between January 2024 and November 2024. The year before, the count was 24.
General courts-martial made up 8 of the 17 cases (47%), up from 25% in 2023. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
With groups this small, a few cases can move each figure. The year-to-year changes in this post show direction, not precise size.
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 24 | 17 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 35% | 29% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 8 | 3 of 5 |
| Convictions with confinement | 68% | 79% |
| Median confinement | 31 days | 47 days |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 33% | 43% |
| General courts-martial | 25% | 47% |
Changes From 2023 to 2024
The median confinement went from 31 days in 2023 to 47 days in 2024. The share of convictions that included confinement went from 68% to 79%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 33% to 43%.
The contested share went from 35% to 29%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 1 of 8 to 3 of 5.
Which Articles Were Charged?
All 17 records list the charges. Article 134, the general article, was the most common, in 5 cases (29%), compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 4 cases (24%), compared with 14%.
Sexual offense charges were also more common here than service-wide. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) each appeared in 3 cases (18%). The service-wide shares were 7% and 5%. Desertion under Article 85 appeared in 2 cases (12%), compared with 1%.
Assault under Article 128 was less common here, at 12% compared with 16%. Larceny under Article 121 appeared in 12%, compared with 8%. Soliciting under Article 82 appeared in 1 case (6%), compared with 2% service-wide.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 29% | 22% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 24% | 14% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 18% | 5% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 3 | 18% | 7% |
| Art. 85 Desertion | 2 | 12% | 1% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 12% | 8% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 12% | 16% |
| Art. 82 Soliciting | 1 | 6% | 2% |
Confinement After a Conviction
Of the 17 cases, 14 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Confinement was part of 11 of those sentences (79%). The median confinement was 47 days, shorter than the 5 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024.
The terms were spread out. Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.
Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges
A punitive discharge followed 43% of enlisted convictions. That included 3 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 58%.
A dishonorable discharge is available only at a general court-martial. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Pleas at Bremerton
In 12 cases the accused pleaded guilty. The other 5 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 29%, lower than the 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Of the 5 contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 ended in a full acquittal, meaning a finding of not guilty on every charge. In 2023, 1 of 8 contested cases at Bremerton ended that way.
Norfolk and Kaneohe Bay
Norfolk, Virginia (24 cases) and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (25 cases) tried a similar number of cases in 2024. Their median confinement was 4 months and 5 months, both longer than at Bremerton.
Punitive discharges for enlisted members were 47% at Norfolk and 78% at Kaneohe Bay. Contested shares were 26% and 22%. Full acquittals came in 4 of 6 contested cases at Norfolk and 0 of 5 at Kaneohe Bay.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bremerton, Washington | 17 | 29% | 3 of 5 | 47 days | 43% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 24 | 26% | 4 of 6 | 4 months | 47% |
| Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 25 | 22% | 0 of 5 | 5 months | 78% |
Rank of the Accused
The accused were 9 junior enlisted members and 8 NCOs. The records show 0 officers. That group is more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. With no officers in the group, no sentence here could include a dismissal.
New Rules and Missing Details
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both rules depend on the offense date. These records give only trial dates, so the 2024 cases mix old-rule and new-rule cases. The records also do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.
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 2024 (17 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)
- What Bremerton, Washington Tried in 2023 (previous / next)
- Bremerton, Washington in 2025: 18 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show (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
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Bremerton, Washington, 2024
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.