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A Year of Courts-Martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay: 2017

The records list 24 courts-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay in 2017. All 23 convictions included confinement, and the median confinement was 1 year, compared with 8 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read

Trends › By Installation › Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay › 2017

Short answer: The records list 24 courts-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay in 2017. All 23 convictions included confinement, and the median confinement was 1 year, compared with 8 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 81 (conspiracy) was charged in 29% of cases, compared with 8% service-wide.

Based on 24 cases · 2017 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Every Conviction Included Confinement

Of 23 convictions, 23 included confinement. The median confinement was 1 year. Across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2017, the median was 8 months. A quarter of the sentences were 3 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences. They are the sentences announced at trial for every charge in the case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. The time actually served can be shorter.

Sentences by Length

No conviction ended without confinement, compared with 10% of convictions across the service. Sentences under 6 months made up 26% of convictions, lower than the 37% service-wide. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 30%, compared with 23%.

Sentences of more than 1 year and under 5 years made up 35%, compared with 20%. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 9%, about the same as the 10% service-wide. In total, 10 of 23 convictions carried more than one year of confinement (43%), compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Adjudged confinementConvictionsShare hereShare, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole
No confinement00%10%
Under 6 months626%37%
6 months to 1 year730%23%
More than 1 year, under 5 years835%20%
5 years or more29%10%

General and Special Courts-Martial

General courts-martial heard 11 cases and special courts-martial heard 13. The general share of 46% was about the same as the 44% service-wide.

The median confinement was 3 years in the general courts-martial and 7 months in the special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge.

Drug, Orders, and Conspiracy Charges

All 24 records list charges, and a case with several articles counts under each one. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) appeared in 11 cases (46%), compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 8 cases (33%), compared with 16%.

Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 7 cases (29%), compared with 8%. Article 121 (larceny) and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 6 cases (25%). Their service-wide shares were 9% and 13%.

Assault under Article 128 appeared in 7 cases (29%), less often than the 37% across the service. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 5 cases (21%), and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 5 (21%).

UCMJ ArticleCasesShare hereShare, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years
Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances1146%31%
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation833%16%
Art. 81 Conspiracy729%8%
Art. 128 Assault729%37%
Art. 121 Larceny625%9%
Art. 134 General article625%13%
Art. 107 False official statements521%11%
Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault521%19%

Results for the 2 Most Common Charges

All 11 cases that charged Article 112a ended in a conviction on that article (100%). The median confinement in those cases was 1.1 years. All 8 cases that charged Article 92 ended in a conviction on that article, with a median confinement of 8 months.

These medians cover the whole sentence in each case, not only the part tied to that article.

ArticleCases charging itConvicted of it (share)Median confinement when convicted of it
Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances1111 (100%)1.1 years
Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation88 (8 of 8)8 months

Punitive Discharges

Of 23 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 9 dishonorable discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2017, the share was 68%.

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge adjudged as part of the sentence. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank of the Accused

Among the accused with rank recorded, 18 were junior enlisted members and 5 were NCOs. No officers were tried. This group is more junior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.

Pearl Harbor and Twentynine Palms

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii tried 21 cases and Twentynine Palms, California tried 20 in the same year. Both had a median confinement of 6 months, shorter than the 1 year at Kaneohe Bay.

Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were 83% at Kaneohe Bay, 72% at Pearl Harbor, and 80% at Twentynine Palms.

Pearl Harbor had a contested share of 19%, and 2 of its 4 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. No contested share is available for Kaneohe Bay or Twentynine Palms in 2017.

InstallationCasesContestedFull acquittals (decided contested)Median confinementPunitive discharge (enlisted)
Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay24——1 year83%
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii2119%2 of 46 months72%
Twentynine Palms, California20——6 months80%

Rules and Record Limits

These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months, and brought in written plea agreements. None of those rules applied here.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so this page does not report a contested share. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not cover nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

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

How We Counted

Every court-martial tried at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay with a trial date in 2017 (24 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.

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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