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# Fewer or More? Communicating Threats Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2021–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-115-trend-2021-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-28T08:05:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:10:54.000Z
- Description: Navy and Marine Corps records show 55 courts-martial charging Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) from 2021 to 2025, with 24 of them in 2021. The offense's share of convictions went from 4% in 2021–2022 to 2% in 2024–2025.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 115, Navy-Marine Corps

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 115](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) › Navy-Marine Corps

**Short answer:** Navy and Marine Corps records show 55 courts-martial charging Article 115 (malingering before 2019; communicating threats since) from 2021 to 2025, with 24 of them in 2021\. The offense's share of convictions went from 4% in 2021–2022 to 2% in 2024–2025\. Only 2 of 17 contested cases that reached a verdict (12%) ended in a full acquittal, compared with 25% across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Based on 55 cases · 2021–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Most Cases Were Tried in 2021

There were 24 cases in 2021, 7 in each of 2022, 2023, and 2024, and 10 in 2025\. The 55 trials took place from January 2021 to October 2025\. They make up 3% of the 1,882 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.

Convictions that included a threat charge were also highest in 2021, at 24\. That was 6% of convictions with offenses listed that year. In 2021–2022, Article 115 was part of 30 of 707 convictions (4%). In 2024–2025, it was part of 15 of 657 (2%), a smaller share. Using shares rather than counts keeps years with different numbers of cases comparable. The records cannot show the reason for the change.

| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 115 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
| ---- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----- |
| 2021 | 24                         | 385                                  | 6%    |
| 2022 | 6                          | 322                                  | 2%    |
| 2023 | 7                          | 283                                  | 2%    |
| 2024 | 6                          | 345                                  | 2%    |
| 2025 | 9                          | 312                                  | 3%    |

## Assault Was Often Charged Too

Threats were rarely charged alone. Only 5 of the 55 cases charged Article 115 alone. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 31 cases, more than any other charge. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 17, Article 134 (the general article) in 14, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 10, and Article 131b (obstruction) in 8.

Each sentence covers every charge in a case. The sentence figures therefore include these other charges.

## Partial Acquittals Were More Common Than Full Acquittals

Of the 54 records listing a plea, 37 were guilty pleas and 17 were contested. A contested case is one where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 31% was about the same as the 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps.

Of the 17 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal (12%). That was lower than the 25% for the service. Partial acquittals were more common: 8 cases (47%). A partial acquittal means a not-guilty finding on at least one charge or specification and a guilty finding on another.

## Sentences Were Similar to Other Navy and Marine Corps Cases

Confinement was part of 88% of the 52 convictions. Half the terms were 6 months or less, the same median as the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Fewer convictions here included no confinement: 12%, compared with 22% across both services.

Confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 11 of 52 convictions (21%), about the same as the 22% overall. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were somewhat more common here: 27% compared with 21%. All of these are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 6           | 12%        | 22%                                         |
| Under 6 months                  | 21          | 40%        | 36%                                         |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 14          | 27%        | 21%                                         |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 8           | 15%        | 16%                                         |
| 5 years or more                 | 3           | 6%         | 5%                                          |

## Sentences by Court Level

General courts-martial handled 16 of the 55 cases (29%, compared with 42% across the Navy and Marine Corps). A general court-martial can adjudge long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial handled 39\. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge.

At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.5 years, and 44% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 4 months, and 26% were contested.

## Discharges and Dismissal

A punitive discharge was part of the sentence in 60% of enlisted convictions: 26 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. That was about the same as the 59% across both services. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was sentenced to dismissal, the officer counterpart of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## Most of the Accused Were Junior Enlisted

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 80% of the accused, NCOs 17%, and officers 4%. Across the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, junior enlisted members were 64%. The accused here were more junior.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried the most of these cases, 10\. Camp Pendleton, California, tried 7; Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, 6; Quantico, Virginia, 5; and Okinawa, Japan, 4\. Those five had 58% of the 55 cases. Larger installations try more cases overall, so a high count does not by itself show a problem.

Navy and Marine Corps convictions that included Article 115, by year: 2021 24, 2022 6, 2023 7, 2024 6, 2025 924202162022720236202492025

Navy and Marine Corps convictions that included Article 115, by year

## What the Records Do Not Show

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel have decided whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, judges sentence within new parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on cannot be sorted by which rules applied.

The words of any threat, the evidence, and the plea terms are not in the records. Threats handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not counted.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 115 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2021–2025 that charged Article 115 (55 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 115 (Malingering Before 2019, Communicating Threats Since): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-115-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub)
- [Army Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-trend-2021-2025/) (another service)
- [Air Force Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-115-trend-2021-2025/) (another service)
- [Fewer or More? Attempt Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-80-trend-2017-2025/)
- [Fewer or More? Child Endangerment Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-119b-trend-2017-2025/)
- [Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120b-trend-2017-2025/)
- [How Much Confinement for an Article 115 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-115-sent-2021-2025/)
- [Article 115 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-115/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.