Camp Pendleton, California in 2023: 39 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Few cases at Camp Pendleton, California were contested in 2023: 3 of 36 cases with a recorded plea (8%), compared with 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. The base tried 39 courts-martial. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 28% of them, compared with 18% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › Camp Pendleton, California › 2023
Short answer: Few cases at Camp Pendleton, California were contested in 2023: 3 of 36 cases with a recorded plea (8%), compared with 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. The base tried 39 courts-martial. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 28% of them, compared with 18% service-wide.
From 33% Contested to 8%
In 2022, 33% of Camp Pendleton cases with a recorded plea were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. In 2023 the share was 8%. Of 36 records that list the plea, 33 show a guilty plea and 3 show a not-guilty or mixed plea.
None of the 3 contested cases ended in a full acquittal (0 of 3). The contested share was low at both court levels: 9% in general courts-martial and 8% in special courts-martial. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 61 | 39 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 33% | 8% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 19 | 0 of 3 |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 78% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 5 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 74% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 34% | 36% |
Orders Violations Were the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed in 36 of the 39 records, and a case with several articles is counted under each. Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, was charged in 10 cases (28%), compared with 18% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Assault under Article 128 was charged in 25% of cases, about the same as the 26% service-wide. Article 134, the general article, was charged in 19%, compared with 22%. Larceny under Article 121 was charged in 14%, compared with 10%. Domestic violence under Article 128b was charged in 11%, compared with 10%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was less common: 6% compared with 11%. False official statements under Article 107 were charged in 6%, the same as the service rate. Obstructing justice under Article 131b was charged in 6%, compared with 5%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 10 | 28% | 18% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 25% | 26% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 19% | 22% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 5 | 14% | 10% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 11% | 10% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 6% | 11% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 6% | 6% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 6% | 5% |
Convictions on Orders and Assault Charges
All 10 cases charging Article 92 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 4 months. All 9 cases charging Article 128 also ended in a conviction on that article, with a median of 5 months.
One case can include both articles, so these rows can overlap. Each median covers the entire sentence.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 10 | 10 (100%) | 4 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 5 months |
Mostly Short Sentences
Confinement was part of 78% of the 36 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. A quarter of terms were 1 year or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement limit, clemency, or appeal.
Terms under 6 months made up 39% of convictions, compared with 33%. Sentences longer than one year were part of 6 of 36 convictions (17%), compared with 23%. No sentence was 5 years or longer, compared with 4% service-wide. 8 convictions (22%) included no confinement, about the same as the 21% across the service. Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 22% of convictions, compared with 23%. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 17%, compared with 19%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 8 | 22% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 39% | 33% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 8 | 22% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 17% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 4% |
Punitive Discharges Were More Common Than Service-Wide
71% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge: 19 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases, the rate was 63%. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed.
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. Dismissal is the officer equivalent. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Court Level
A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. General courts-martial were 36% of cases (14 of 39), and their median confinement was 1.5 years. The 25 special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year, had a median confinement of 3 months.
Rank of the Accused
The accused included 24 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 10 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 officer or warrant officer. This group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023, where 65% were junior enlisted.
Change From 2022 and Comparison With Other Bases
The number of cases fell from 61 in 2022 to 39 in 2023. The median confinement went from 6 months to 5 months. The share of convictions with confinement went from 90% to 78%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 74% to 71%. In groups this small a few cases can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise measurements.
Contested cases were more common at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (32 cases) and San Diego, California (31 cases): 38% and 37%. Camp Lejeune had the same median confinement of 5 months and gave a punitive discharge to 77% of convicted enlisted members. San Diego had a median confinement of 6 months and a punitive discharge rate of 62%. At San Diego, 5 of 11 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 | 39 | 8% | 0 of 3 | 5 months | 71% |
| Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 32 | 38% | 1 of 10 | 5 months | 77% |
| San Diego, California | 31 | 37% | 5 of 11 | 6 months | 62% |
What the Records Do Not Show
These records cover only cases that went to a court-martial. Matters resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they give trial dates, not offense dates.
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 2023 (39 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)
- What Camp Pendleton, California Tried in 2022 (previous / next)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Camp Pendleton, California: 2024 (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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Camp Pendleton, California, 2023
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.