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# What Happens to Navy-Marine Corps NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Assault Charges?
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-ncos/
- Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:21.000Z
- Description: The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 318 assault courts-martial under Article 128 from 2017–2025 in which the accused was an NCO (E-5 to E-9). 47% of these cases were contested, compared with 41% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 128, Navy-Marine Corps

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 128](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

**Short answer:** The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 318 assault courts-martial under Article 128 from 2017–2025 in which the accused was an NCO (E-5 to E-9). 47% of these cases were contested, compared with 41% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases. 52% of convicted NCOs received a punitive discharge, compared with 61% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases.

Based on 318 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

## More Cases Were Contested

The plea appears in 244 of 318 records, because Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those, 129 accused pleaded guilty and 115 contested at least one charge. That makes 47% contested, higher than the 41% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases.

48% of the 115 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, about the same as the 46% for all Article 128 cases. Another 11 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

## Fewer Punitive Discharges

Among 261 convicted enlisted members, 136 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (52%), and 60 of those were dishonorable. For all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases, the rate was 61%.

A sentence without a punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation. These records do not cover separations. Dishonorable discharges, the more severe type, can be adjudged only at a general court-martial.

## Confinement for Convicted NCOs

Of 261 convictions, 213 included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases. A quarter of terms were 1.8 years or longer.

18% of convictions here had no confinement, compared with 14% for all Article 128 cases. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were less common: 20% compared with 25%. Confinement longer than one year was about as common: 73 of 261 convictions (28%), compared with 27%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 48          | 18%        | 14%                                                |
| Under 6 months                  | 89          | 34%        | 34%                                                |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 51          | 20%        | 25%                                                |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 50          | 19%        | 18%                                                |
| 5 years or more                 | 23          | 9%         | 9%                                                 |

## Sexual Offense Charges Were Common

Article 128 was the only charge in 96 of 318 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 114, Article 92 (orders violation) in 50, Article 134 (general article) in 45, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 44, and Article 80 (attempt) in 34.

The sentence covers the whole case, so those charges are part of the confinement and discharge figures. The records do not show whether an assault charge and a sexual offense charge describe the same incident.

## Most Cases Were General Courts-Martial

Of these cases, 184 were general courts-martial and 134 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 58%, compares with 52% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.5 years and 60% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 3 months and 30% were contested.

## Rank of the Accused

All 318 accused were NCOs, while junior enlisted made up 64% of all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases. These records do not reliably show whether a judge or members decided guilt, so this post does not report it. The comparison throughout is with all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases, which cover every rank.

## Cases by Year and Installation

The cases were tried from January 2017 to December 2025, with yearly counts of 46 in 2017, 56 in 2018, 45 in 2019, 39 in 2020, 38 in 2021, 29 in 2022, 27 in 2023, 23 in 2024, and 15 in 2025.

Norfolk, Virginia had the most cases, 53, followed by Camp Pendleton, California (33), Bremerton, Washington (29), San Diego, California (27), and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (20). These five account for 51% of the 318\. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not by itself show a problem at a base.

## Rule Changes and Missing Information

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, added judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. Offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Assault under Article 128 is not one, but special trial counsel handling a covered offense can also take a related assault.

The records do not give offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include both old-rule and new-rule cases. The evidence, the plea terms, and assaults handled outside a court-martial are also not included.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?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 2017–2025 that charged NCOs (E-5 to E-9) under Article 128 (318 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 case.

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 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Charged Under Article 128 in the Army](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-junior-enlisted/)
- [What Happens to Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Assault Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-ncos/)
- [What Happens to Army Officers Facing Assault Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-officers/)
- [Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-128-trend-2021-2025/)
- [Fewer or More? Assault Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-128-trend-2016-2025/)
- [Article 128 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**Compare: federal court.** [Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-aggravated-assault-vs-article-128/)

**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.