What Was Tried at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2019–2023? 34 Courts-Martial
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina tried 34 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. False official statement charges under Article 107 appeared in 27% of cases with listed charges, compared with 8% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina › 2019–2023
Short answer: MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina tried 34 courts-martial from 2019 to 2023. False official statement charges under Article 107 appeared in 27% of cases with listed charges, compared with 8% across the Navy and Marine Corps. When a conviction included confinement, the median confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months service-wide.
False Statements and Orders Violations
Article 107, which covers false official statements, was the most common charge in the 30 records that list charges. It appeared in 8 cases, or 27%, compared with 8% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, was also more common than the service rate: 23%, compared with 18%. Article 128b, domestic violence, appeared in 13% of cases, compared with 3%. Assault under Article 128 and drug charges under Article 112a were less common than service-wide. Each appeared in 20% of cases, compared with 31% and 25%. Each article counts once per case, so the shares overlap.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 107 False official statements | 8 | 27% | 8% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 23% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 20% | 18% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 6 | 20% | 31% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 20% | 25% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 4 | 13% | 3% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 3 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 10% | 7% |
Fewer Confinement Sentences, but Longer Ones
Of 30 convictions, 17 included confinement (57%). The other 43% included no confinement, compared with 17% across the Navy and Marine Corps. When confinement was adjudged, the median was 1 year, compared with 6 months service-wide. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 1.5 years or longer.
Sentences longer than one year were 8 of 30 convictions (27%), about the same as the 24% service-wide. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 13 | 43% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 4 | 13% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 17% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8 | 27% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 5% |
General and Special Courts-Martial
There were 15 general and 19 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 44%, was the same as in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole. General courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.5 years. Special courts-martial had a median of 5 months.
Each level has different sentence limits. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Among cases with a plea listed, 3 of 9 general courts-martial and 4 of 8 special courts-martial were contested.
Pleas and Verdicts
A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Only 17 of the 34 records list a plea. Of those, 7 were contested and 10 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 41%, compared with 31% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
None of the 7 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Because 17 of the 34 records do not list a plea, these figures describe only the cases where the plea is known.
Did Convictions End Careers?
Of 26 convicted enlisted members, 14 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (54%). That is lower than the 63% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of those 14, 6 were dishonorable discharges.
Officers are sentenced to dismissal, not a discharge. There were 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 1 was sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Changes From 2017–2018
The records show 13 cases at Cherry Point from 2017–2018, about 6 a year, and 34 from 2019–2023, about 7 a year, counting full years only. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 90% to 54%. Convictions with confinement went from 90% to 57%.
In the same periods, the median confinement went from 5 months to 1 year. The general court-martial share went from 31% to 44%. In small groups, a few cases either way can change these figures, so they show direction, not precise measures.
| 2017–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 13 | 34 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | — | 41% |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 57% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 90% | 54% |
| General courts-martial | 31% | 44% |
Rank of the Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 59% of the accused, NCOs 31%, and officers 10%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members were 64% of the accused.
Great Lakes and Pearl Harbor
Great Lakes, Illinois tried 34 cases and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii tried 39 in the same years. Both had a contested share of 24%, lower than the 41% at Cherry Point.
The median confinement was 5 months at Great Lakes and 9 months at Pearl Harbor. Both were shorter than the 1 year here. Punitive discharges for enlisted members were 55% at Great Lakes and 74% at Pearl Harbor.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina | 34 | 41% | 0 of 7 | 1 year | 54% |
| Great Lakes, Illinois | 34 | 24% | 1 of 8 | 5 months | 55% |
| Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | 39 | 24% | 3 of 9 | 9 months | 74% |
Dates and Missing Details
The cases were tried between April 2019 and November 2023: 4 in 2019, 10 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 2 in 2022, and 11 in 2023. They are 2% of the 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.
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 2019–2023 (34 cases), compared with all 1,991 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)
- Inside 13 Courts-Martial at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2017–2018 (another period)
- MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina Courts-Martial, 2024–2026: What 23 Cases Show (another period)
- Great Lakes, Illinois Courts-Martial, 2019–2023: What 34 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 39 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)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, 2019–2023
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.