Inside 13 Courts-Martial at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2017–2018
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina had 13 courts-martial in 2017–2018. Of 10 convicted enlisted members, 9 received a punitive discharge (90%), compared with 67% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina › 2017–2018
Short answer: MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina had 13 courts-martial in 2017–2018. Of 10 convicted enlisted members, 9 received a punitive discharge (90%), compared with 67% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 58% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 35% service-wide.
Punitive Discharges in 9 of 10 Enlisted Convictions
Among 10 enlisted members convicted, 9 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (90%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps the share was 67%. Of the 9 discharges, 3 were dishonorable.
A punitive discharge means a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed for 12 of the 13 cases. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 7 of them (58%), compared with 35% in the whole Navy and Marine Corps. Article 112a (drug use or possession) was charged in 4 (33%), about the same as the 29% service-wide.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) were each charged in 3 cases (25%). Article 109 (property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction) was charged in 2 cases (17%), compared with 2% service-wide. A case is counted once under each article it charges.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 58% | 35% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 33% | 29% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 25% | 15% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 3 | 25% | 18% |
| Art. 109 Property other than military; waste, spoilage, destruction | 2 | 17% | 2% |
| Art. 113 Misbehavior of a sentinel | 1 | 8% | 2% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 1 | 8% | 10% |
| Art. 93 Cruelty and maltreatment | 1 | 8% | 1% |
Confinement Was Shorter Than Service-Wide
Of the 13 cases, 10 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Confinement was part of 9 of those sentences (90%). The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 7 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.
A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 2 years or longer. These are sentences as adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
Special courts-martial made up most of the cases. General courts-martial made up 31% (4 of 13). A special court-martial caps confinement at 1 year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.
Among the accused with rank recorded, 7 were junior enlisted members and 3 were NCOs. No officer was tried. The group was more junior than the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Parris Island and Pensacola
Parris Island, South Carolina tried 20 cases in the same years and Pensacola, Florida tried 23. Parris Island had a median confinement of 2 years and a punitive discharge rate of 63%. Pensacola had the same median as Cherry Point, 5 months, and a rate of 55%. Cherry Point had the highest punitive discharge rate of the 3.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina | 13 | — | — | 5 months | 90% |
| Parris Island, South Carolina | 20 | 0 of 1 | — | 2 years | 63% |
| Pensacola, Florida | 23 | 13% | 2 of 3 | 5 months | 55% |
When the Cases Were Tried
The 13 cases ran from February 2017 to December 2018: 6 in 2017 and 7 in 2018. They are 1% of the 1,002 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
All of them came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial, and added written plea agreements. None of those rules applied here.
What These Records Leave Out
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and the forum. For that reason, this page does not report contested shares or acquittal rates for Cherry Point. The records also do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial, and they give trial dates rather than offense dates.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina with a trial date in 2017–2018 (13 cases), compared with all 1,002 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
- MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- What Was Tried at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2019–2023? 34 Courts-Martial (another period)
- MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 23 Cases Show (another period)
- What Was Tried at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, 2017–2018? 13 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Parris Island, South Carolina, 2017–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 20 Cases (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)
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.