Great Lakes, Illinois Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 31 Cases Show
From January 2024 through September 2026, 31 cases at Great Lakes, Illinois reached a court-martial. Article 92 (orders violations) was charged in 32% of them, compared with 19% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 4 months, lower than 6 months service-wide.
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Trends › By Installation › Great Lakes, Illinois › 2024–2026
Short answer: From January 2024 through September 2026, 31 cases at Great Lakes, Illinois reached a court-martial. Article 92 (orders violations) was charged in 32% of them, compared with 19% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 4 months, lower than 6 months service-wide.
Most of the Accused Were Junior Sailors
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 84% of the accused at Great Lakes. NCOs made up 13% and officers 3%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole in the same years, junior enlisted members were 59% of the accused.
Fewer cases were general courts-martial. General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 29% of these cases (9 of 31). Special courts-martial, which cap confinement at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge, made up the rest.
Orders Violations and Unauthorized Absence
Charge lists exist for all 31 cases, and a case with several articles counts under each. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 32% of cases here, compared with 19% service-wide. Article 86 (absence without leave) was charged in 16%, compared with 5%.
Article 134, the general article, was charged less often: 16% of Great Lakes cases, compared with 21% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Assault (Article 128) was charged in 19% of cases here, compared with 15% service-wide.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 10 | 32% | 19% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 6 | 19% | 15% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 16% | 21% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 5 | 16% | 5% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 10% | 5% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 3 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 2 | 6% | 5% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 6% | 7% |
Cases by Year
By year, the records show 8 cases in 2024, 14 in 2025, and 9 in 2026. The 2026 count covers only part of the year. Great Lakes accounted for 3% of the 1,013 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.
There are more cases per year than in the previous period. Great Lakes had 34 cases in 2019–2023, about 7 a year, compared with about 11 a year since, counting full years only.
Then and Now: 2019–2023 Against 2024–2026
Median confinement went from 5 months to 4 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 55% to 56%. The share of convictions with confinement went from 76% to 68%.
The contested share went from 24% to 30%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 1 of 8 to 3 of 9. General courts-martial went from 41% of cases to 29%. With groups this small, a few cases either way can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise size.
| 2019–2023 | 2024–2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 34 | 31 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 24% | 30% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 8 | 3 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 76% | 68% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 55% | 56% |
| General courts-martial | 41% | 29% |
Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 30 records that list a plea, 21 accused pleaded guilty and 9 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 30%, lower than 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
3 of the 9 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty on every charge.
Shorter Sentences
Of 28 convictions, 19 included confinement. The median was 4 months. A quarter of those sentences were 6 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
Long sentences were less common than across the service. 4 of 28 convictions (14%) included more than one year, compared with 20% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 7% of convictions here included 1 year to under 5 years, compared with 19% service-wide. 43% included under 6 months, compared with 35%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 9 | 32% | 30% |
| Under 6 months | 12 | 43% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 11% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 7% | 13% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 7% | 7% |
Discharges After Conviction
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. 56% of enlisted convictions at Great Lakes included one (12 bad-conduct and 3 dishonorable discharges), compared with 52% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which falls outside these records.
Pearl Harbor and Cherry Point for Comparison
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina tried a similar number of cases in the same years. All 3 installations had a median confinement of 4 months.
Other measures differed. MCAS Cherry Point had the highest contested share, 52%. The share was 30% at Great Lakes and 17% at Pearl Harbor. Punitive discharge rates for convicted enlisted members were 56% at Great Lakes, 50% at Cherry Point, and 42% at Pearl Harbor.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes, Illinois | 31 | 30% | 3 of 9 | 4 months | 56% |
| Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | 25 | 17% | 0 of 4 | 4 months | 42% |
| MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina | 23 | 52% | 3 of 11 | 4 months | 50% |
Rule Changes and Missing Pieces
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, a military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. Both depend on the offense date, which these records do not give. This period includes cases under both the old and new rules.
The records cover only cases that reached a courtroom. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and the evidence and plea terms behind each case are not part of them.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Great Lakes, Illinois with a trial date in 2024–2026 (31 cases), compared with all 1,013 Navy and Marine Corps trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
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
- Great Lakes, Illinois: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at Great Lakes, Illinois, 2013–2018? 37 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Great Lakes, Illinois Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 34 Cases Show (another period)
- What Was Tried at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2024–2026? 25 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 23 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Bremerton, Washington Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 52 Cases Show
- Bremerton, Washington, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 221 Cases
- Bremerton, Washington, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 153 Cases
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Great Lakes, Illinois, 2024–2026
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.