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Understanding Trends

Jacksonville, Florida vs. MCAS Miramar, California: Two Navy-Marine Corps Installations Side by Side, 2024–2026

Jacksonville, Florida had 40 courts-martial from 2024–2026, and MCAS Miramar, California had 39. 63% of Jacksonville cases were contested, against 44% at MCAS Miramar, and 39% of convicted enlisted members at Jacksonville received a punitive discharge, against 53% at MCAS Miramar.

Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read

Trends › By Installation › Jacksonville, Florida › vs. MCAS Miramar, California

Short answer: Jacksonville, Florida had 40 courts-martial from 2024–2026, and MCAS Miramar, California had 39. 63% of Jacksonville cases were contested, against 44% at MCAS Miramar, and 39% of convicted enlisted members at Jacksonville received a punitive discharge, against 53% at MCAS Miramar.

Based on 40 cases · 2024–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Jacksonville Cases Were Contested

38 of the 40 Jacksonville records list the plea: 14 guilty pleas and 24 contested cases. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, through a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 63%, against 44% at MCAS Miramar.

Both court levels had high contested shares at Jacksonville: 72% of general courts-martial and 55% of special courts-martial. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or contested.

Full and Partial Acquittals

24 contested cases at Jacksonville reached a verdict. 4 of them ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge (17%). At MCAS Miramar, 2 of 17 did (12%).

10 more Jacksonville cases were partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. A partial acquittal still ends in a conviction and a sentence.

Punitive Discharges

12 of 31 convicted enlisted members at Jacksonville received a punitive discharge: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. The share was 39%, against 53% at MCAS Miramar.

1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears in the Jacksonville records, and none was dismissed. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for enlisted members and a dismissal for officers. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Confinement After a Conviction

35 Jacksonville cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 25 of those sentences included confinement (71%). The median confinement was 5 months, about the same as the 6 months at MCAS Miramar.

Sentences of more than one year came about as often at both installations: 8 of 35 Jacksonville convictions (23%), against 22% at MCAS Miramar. 14% of Jacksonville convictions carried 5 years or more, against 11%. 29% carried no confinement, about the same as the 30% at MCAS Miramar. Sentences under 6 months made up 40% of Jacksonville convictions and 30% of MCAS Miramar convictions.

These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Adjudged confinementConvictionsShare hereShare, the MCAS Miramar, California cases
No confinement1029%30%
Under 6 months1440%30%
6 months to 1 year39%19%
More than 1 year, under 5 years39%11%
5 years or more514%11%

The Charges Filed

All 40 Jacksonville records list the charges. Each article counts once per case.

Article 134 (the general article) was the most common charge, in 28% of Jacksonville cases, against 21% at MCAS Miramar. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 20%, against 15%. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 18%, against 21%.

Article 131b (obstructing justice) appeared in 10% of Jacksonville cases and 5% of MCAS Miramar cases. Article 119b (child endangerment) appeared in 8% and 3%. Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 12% and 10%, and Article 107 (false official statements) in 5% and 0%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 5% of cases at both installations.

UCMJ ArticleCasesShare hereShare, MCAS Miramar, California in the same years
Art. 134 General article1128%21%
Art. 128b Domestic violence820%15%
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation718%21%
Art. 80 Attempts512%10%
Art. 131b Obstructing justice410%5%
Art. 119b Child endangerment38%3%
Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault25%5%
Art. 107 False official statements25%0%

Results on the Top 2 Charges

All 11 cases charging Article 134 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 3 years. Article 128b ended in a conviction on that article in 7 of 8 cases, with a median of 54 days.

One case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.

ArticleCases charging itConvicted of it (share)Median confinement when convicted of it
Art. 134 General article1111 (100%)3 years
Art. 128b Domestic violence87 (7 of 8)54 days

Court Level and Rank

General courts-martial made up 45% of Jacksonville cases (18 of 40). They produced a median confinement of 3 years. The 22 special courts-martial produced a median of 2 months. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

Among the accused with rank recorded, 12 were junior enlisted, 24 were NCOs, and 1 was an officer. The sheet describes this group as more senior than the accused at MCAS Miramar.

InstallationCasesContestedFull acquittals (decided contested)Median confinementPunitive discharge (enlisted)
Jacksonville, Florida4063%4 of 245 months39%
MCAS Miramar, California3944%2 of 176 months53%

Years and Rule Changes

The records run from January 2024 to July 2026. By year: 2024: 14, 2025: 17, 2026: 9. The 2026 count is a partial year.

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. If every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records do not include offense dates.

What Is Outside These Records

Only cases that reached a courtroom appear here. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

How We Counted

Every court-martial tried at Jacksonville, Florida (40) and MCAS Miramar, California (39) with trial dates in 2024–2026. Each figure for Jacksonville, Florida is set beside the same figure for MCAS Miramar, California.

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.

Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Jacksonville, Florida, 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.

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