Camp Pendleton, California in 2019: 74 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Assault was the most common charge at Camp Pendleton, California in 2019. Article 128 was charged in 44% of its 74 courts-martial, compared with 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › 2019
Short answer: Assault was the most common charge at Camp Pendleton, California in 2019. Article 128 was charged in 44% of its 74 courts-martial, compared with 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months service-wide, and 57% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed in 68 of the 74 records, and a case with several articles is counted under each. Article 128, assault, was charged in 30 cases (44%), compared with 34% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, was charged in 25%, compared with 17%.
Drug charges under Article 112a were in 32% of cases, about the same as the 30% service-wide. Other charges were less common than elsewhere. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was charged in 6% of cases, compared with 14%. Larceny under Article 121 was charged in 6%, compared with 11%. Article 134, the general article, was charged in 7%, compared with 12%. Article 107 (false official statements) and Article 131b (obstructing justice) were each charged in 4% of cases, compared with 7% across the service.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 30 | 44% | 34% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 22 | 32% | 30% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 17 | 25% | 17% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 7% | 12% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 6% | 11% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 6% | 14% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 4% | 7% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 3 | 4% | 7% |
Outcomes for the Main Charges
Of 30 cases charging Article 128, 27 ended in a conviction on that article (90%), with a median confinement of 8 months. Every case charging Article 112a (22 of 22) or Article 92 (17 of 17) ended in a conviction on that article, and both had a median confinement of 3 months.
One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so the rows overlap. Each median covers the full sentence.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 30 | 27 (90%) | 8 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 22 | 22 (100%) | 3 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 17 | 17 (100%) | 3 months |
Shorter Terms Than in 2018
Confinement was part of 83% of the 69 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, and a quarter of terms were 10 months or longer. In 2018, the median at Camp Pendleton was 1 year. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal.
Terms under 6 months made up 45% of convictions, compared with 35% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Sentences longer than one year were part of 12 of 69 convictions (17%), compared with 24%, and 2 were 5 years or more. 12 convictions (17%) included no confinement, about the same as the 18% service-wide. Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 20%, compared with 23%. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 14%, compared with 19%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 12 | 17% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 31 | 45% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 14 | 20% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 10 | 14% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 3% | 5% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial were 48 of the 74 cases, and general courts-martial were 26 (35%). The general court-martial share was 46% in 2018. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial has no such limits.
The median confinement was 1.8 years in general courts-martial and 3 months in special courts-martial.
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than in 2018
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 57% of convicted enlisted members received one: 31 bad-conduct discharges and 8 dishonorable discharges. That rate was slightly lower than the 60% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. It was also lower than the 70% at Camp Pendleton in 2018.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which the records do not cover.
Most of the Accused Were Junior Enlisted
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 75% of the accused, and NCOs made up 25%. No officers were tried. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members were 57% of the accused.
Change From 2018
Camp Pendleton tried 78 cases in 2018 and 74 in 2019. The median confinement and the punitive discharge rate were both lower in 2019. Confinement was part of 89% of convictions in 2018 and 83% in 2019. In groups of this size a few cases can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise size.
The 2019 records for this base list no plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the data cannot show how often the accused contested the charges or how those trials ended.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 78 | 74 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | — |
| Convictions with confinement | 89% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 5 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 70% | 57% |
| General courts-martial | 46% | 35% |
Compared With Camp Lejeune and Norfolk
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (62 cases) had a median confinement of 1 year and gave a punitive discharge to 82% of convicted enlisted members. Norfolk, Virginia (51 cases) had a median confinement of 6 months and a punitive discharge rate of 55%. At Norfolk, 43% of cases were contested, and 9 of 21 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Pendleton, California | 74 | — | — | 5 months | 57% |
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 62 | 0 of 2 | — | 1 year | 82% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 51 | 43% | 9 of 21 | 6 months | 55% |
The Law Change and What the Records Leave Out
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, but cases with offenses from before 2019 stayed under the old rules. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot sort 2019 cases by which rules applied. They also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Camp Pendleton, California with a trial date in 2019 (74 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
- Camp Pendleton, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Camp Pendleton, California in 2018: 78 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- What Camp Pendleton, California Tried in 2020 (previous / next)
- What Was Tried at Camp Pendleton, California, 2019–2023? 291 Courts-Martial (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
- S1 E33: Dismissing the Camp Pendleton Case (podcast, members)
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
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.