28 Assault Courts-Martial at Camp Pendleton, California, 2024–2026: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › Article 128, 2024–2026

Based on 28 cases · 2024–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Punitive Discharges Were More Common Than Service-Wide

Among enlisted members convicted here, 54% received a punitive discharge: 12 bad-conduct discharges and 1 dishonorable discharge. In Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall during 2024–2026, the share was 43%.

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A conviction without one does not rule out a later administrative separation. These records do not include administrative separations.

Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

26 of the 28 records list a plea. Of those, 19 were guilty pleas and 7 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. A mixed plea is guilty to some charges and not guilty to others. A case with a mixed plea counts as contested, because the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge.

The contested share of 27% is lower than the 39% in Article 128 cases across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Almost every record in this group lists a plea, so the figure describes nearly all of the cases, not a small part of them.

Most Confinement Terms Were Short

Confinement was part of 77% of the 26 convictions. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the 4 months median in Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall. A quarter of terms were 6 months or longer.

Sentences under 6 months made up 50% of convictions, compared with 45% elsewhere. 23% of convictions carried no confinement, compared with 30%. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.

Few Sentences Longer Than One Year

Only 2 of 26 convictions (8%) carried more than one year of confinement, compared with 10% across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. No conviction carried 5 years or more. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 19% of convictions here and 15% elsewhere.

Confinement of more than one year is possible only at a general court-martial. A special court-martial is capped at one year.

Court Level and Rank

General courts-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. They were 9 of the 28 cases, or 32%. The rest were special courts-martial, which can impose a bad-conduct discharge but no dishonorable discharge and no more than one year of confinement.

The accused were 17 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 8 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. That group is similar to the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole, where 62% of those charged under Article 128 were junior enlisted.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Of the 28 cases, 16 charged at least one other article along with the assault. Article 115 (communicating threats) was the most common, in 5 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 4, Article 95 (sentinel offenses) in 2, Article 107 (false official statement) in 2, and Article 113 (drunken or reckless driving) in 1.

Every sentence on this page covers all the charges in its case. The confinement and discharge figures therefore include punishment for these other charges as well as the assault.

Cases by Year

The cases were tried from January 2024 through August 2026: 10 in 2024, 12 in 2025, and 6 in 2026, a partial year. Assault was charged in 20% of the 142 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton, California over that period.

Law Changes That Apply to These Years

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. Article 128 assault is not itself a covered offense. A special trial counsel who takes a covered offense can also take related offenses, such as an assault tied to a domestic violence allegation.

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 changes depend on the offense date, which the records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under both the old and the new rules. The data cannot show whether either change affected these results.

What the Records Do Not Show

Trial records list charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or misconduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

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.