How Camp Pendleton, California Handled General Article Cases (Article 134), 2024–2026

Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › Article 134, 2024–2026

Based on 23 cases · 2024–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Confinement Measured in Years

This page covers courts-martial charging Article 134 at Camp Pendleton from March 2024 through August 2026. Article 134 is the general article. It covers many different offenses, so these cases are not a single type of misconduct.

Confinement was part of 86% of the 21 convictions. The median confinement was 2.4 years, compared with 1.5 years across Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases. A quarter of terms were 7 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in the case.

More Sentences of 5 Years or More

Terms of 5 years or more made up 29% of convictions (6 cases), compared with 17% across Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases. Terms of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 19%, compared with 28%. In total, sentences longer than one year came in 10 of 21 convictions (48%), about the same as the 45% service-wide.

3 convictions carried no confinement (14%, compared with 21%). 5 were under 6 months (24%, compared with 20%). Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.

Nearly Every Conviction Included a Punitive Discharge

Among the 21 enlisted members convicted, 19 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, and 11 of those were dishonorable. The 90% rate compares with 75% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases overall.

A dishonorable discharge is available only at a general court-martial. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, and these records do not include those separations.

Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial

General courts-martial were 59% of the 22 cases with a court level listed (13 of 22), and special courts-martial were the rest. The court level is not listed for 1 case. 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.

Article 134 Was Often the Only Charge

In 12 of the 23 cases, Article 134 was the only article charged. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, 95 of 210 Article 134 cases charged it alone. Other charges appeared in small numbers: Article 92 (orders violations) in 3 cases, Article 89 (disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer) in 2, and Article 82 (solicitation), Article 120b (child sexual abuse), and Article 128 (assault) in 1 each.

The figures here do not separate the specific Article 134 offenses charged. These cases therefore cannot be broken down further by type of conduct.

Most Accused Pleaded Guilty

21 records list a plea. Of those, 16 were guilty pleas and 5 were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 24% is lower than the 29% across Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases.

Most cases here ended in a guilty plea, and the sentences were long. The figures on this page do not link each sentence to the plea in that case, so sentences and pleas cannot be matched case by case.

Rank of the Accused

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 71% of the accused, and NCOs were 29%. No officers appear. Across Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases, junior enlisted members were 63% of the accused. For an officer, the equivalent of a punitive discharge is a dismissal. Because no officers appear, every discharge figure on this page describes enlisted members.

Cases by Year and Law Changes

There were 7 cases in 2024, 7 in 2025, and 9 in 2026, a partial year. The 23 cases were 16% of the 142 courts-martial at Camp Pendleton in 2024–2026.

Every trial here took place after December 28, 2023. Since that date, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding 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, which the records do not give. These cases therefore include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

What the Records Do Not Show

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, or the specific conduct behind a general article charge. They leave out anything handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 134 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.