What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2017–2018? 26 Courts-Martial
MCAS Miramar, California had 26 courts-martial from January 2017 to August 2018. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 58% of them, compared with 35% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Installation › MCAS Miramar, California › 2017–2018
Short answer: MCAS Miramar, California had 26 courts-martial from January 2017 to August 2018. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 58% of them, compared with 35% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of convicted enlisted members, 84% received a punitive discharge, compared with 67% elsewhere in the service.
Assault and Drug Charges Were the Most Common
All 26 records list their charges. Each article counts once per case, so many cases appear in more than one row. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 15 cases, or 58%, compared with 35% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Article 112a (drug) was next, in 46%, compared with 29%.
Article 90, willfully disobeying a superior officer, appeared in 15% of cases here and 2% across the service. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 23%, compared with 18%. Article 92 appeared in 15%, the same as the service share. Article 134 appeared in 15%, compared with 14%. Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 15%, compared with 11%, and Article 81 (conspiracy) in 12%, compared with 8%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 58% | 35% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 46% | 29% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 23% | 18% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 15% | 15% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 15% | 11% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 4 | 15% | 2% |
| Art. 134 General article | 4 | 15% | 14% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 12% | 8% |
Most Convictions Included a Punitive Discharge
Of 19 enlisted members convicted, 16 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (84%). Elsewhere in the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 67%. Of the 16, 4 were dishonorable discharges, which only a general court-martial can impose.
These are the punitive discharges for enlisted members. For officers, the equivalent is dismissal, and no officers were among the accused here. A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation. Administrative separations happen outside the court-martial and are not in these records.
Median Confinement Was Longer Than the Service Median
Of the 26 cases, 19 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those 19 sentences, 17 included confinement (89%). The median confinement was 10 months, compared with 7 months in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 2.5 years or longer.
All of these are adjudged sentences: the sentences announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers all the charges in the case, not one offense alone.
Results on the Most Common Charges
Cases charging Article 112a ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 12 (83%). The median confinement for those convictions was 10 months. Cases charging Article 128 ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 15 (67%). Those convictions had a median confinement of 1.2 years.
A single case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another. These rows overlap and do not add up to the case total.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 15 | 10 (67%) | 1.2 years |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 12 | 10 (83%) | 10 months |
Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial were 69% of these cases (18 of 26). Special courts-martial were the rest. 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 can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.
Most of the Accused Were Junior Enlisted
Of the accused, 17 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 2 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 were officers or warrant officers. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years, junior enlisted members were 64% of the accused. This group was more junior.
Mayport and Pensacola
Mayport, Florida (25 cases) and Pensacola, Florida (23) tried a similar number of cases in these years. Both had shorter median confinement: 6 months at Mayport and 5 months at Pensacola. Both had lower punitive discharge rates: 56% and 55%.
Mayport's contested share was 38%, and 4 of 9 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Pensacola's contested share was 13%, and 2 of 3 ended in a full acquittal. Miramar has no plea records for this period, so its contested share and acquittals cannot be compared with theirs.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCAS Miramar, California | 26 | — | — | 10 months | 84% |
| Mayport, Florida | 25 | 38% | 4 of 9 | 6 months | 56% |
| Pensacola, Florida | 23 | 13% | 2 of 3 | 5 months | 55% |
Before the Military Justice Act Took Effect
These trials, 13 in 2017 and 13 in 2018, took place before January 1, 2019, when the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect. That law set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. None of those changes applied to the cases here.
What Is Missing
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea and forum. For Miramar in these years, they do. For that reason, these records show nothing about guilty pleas or acquittal rates here. The records also give trial dates, not offense dates. The 26 cases are about 3% of the 1,002 Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, evidence, and plea terms are not in these records.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at MCAS Miramar, California with a trial date in 2017–2018 (26 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 Miramar, California: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- MCAS Miramar, California, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 42 Cases (another period)
- What Was Tried at MCAS Miramar, California, 2024–2026? 39 Courts-Martial (another period)
- Twentynine Palms, California Courts-Martial, 2017–2018: What 30 Cases Show (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, 2017–2018? 31 Courts-Martial (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
- S2 E2: Hazing on Miramar (podcast, members)
- 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.