NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Charged Under Article 134 in the Navy-Marine Corps

Trends › By Offense › Article 134 › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 224 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Punitive Discharges, but More Dishonorable Discharges

Convicted NCOs received a punitive discharge less often than the accused in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases: 65% compared with 75%. Of those discharges, 66 were bad-conduct discharges and 74 were dishonorable discharges. The more severe discharge was the more common one here.

Either a special or a general court-martial can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. A sentence with neither does not rule out a later administrative separation.

More Very Long Sentences

There were 216 convictions, and 179 included confinement. The median confinement was 1.5 years, the same as the median for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases. A quarter of the sentences were 4 years or longer.

Sentences of 5 years or more made up 18% of convictions here, compared with 14% across the service. No confinement was imposed in 17% of convictions, compared with 13%.

Sentences between 1 and 5 years were less common: 31% here and 38% overall. In all, 104 of 216 convictions (48%) included more than one year of confinement, slightly less often than the 52% in the comparison group. All are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

Sentences by Court Level

Of the 224 cases, 149 were general courts-martial (67%) and 75 were special courts-martial. The median confinement was 2.3 years at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial.

The contested shares were closer: 30% at general courts-martial and 26% at special courts-martial. A special court-martial cannot impose more than one year of confinement.

Pleas and Verdicts

Of 167 records that list a plea, 119 were guilty pleas and 48 were contested. A contested case is one where the NCO pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 29%, about the same as the service-wide 28%.

Of the 48 contested cases that reached a verdict, 6 ended in a full acquittal and 11 in a partial acquittal. In a partial acquittal, some charges end in not-guilty findings and others in convictions. The 12% full-acquittal rate was the same as the 12% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases.

Other Charges in These Cases

Article 134 was the only charge in 85 of the 224 cases. Across the service, 240 of 640 Article 134 cases charged it alone. In the other cases, the most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 45 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) in 43, Article 80 (attempt) in 28, and Article 107 (false official statement) and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 25 each.

A court-martial sentence covers every charge that ended in a conviction. The confinement and discharge figures above therefore describe whole cases. When a case also included assault or sexual assault charges, the sentence covers those charges too. The records do not separate them.

Case Counts by Year

The yearly count changed little. It was 32 in 2017, 28 in 2018, 23 in 2019, 19 in 2020, 30 in 2021, 24 in 2022, 21 in 2023, 25 in 2024, and 22 in 2025. The cases were tried from January 2017 to October 2025.

Installations

Norfolk, Virginia tried 29 of these cases. Camp Pendleton, California tried 22, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 20, San Diego, California 17, and Bremerton, Washington 15. Those five installations account for 46% of the 224 cases. Most cases were tried at other locations.

The group is more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps Article 134 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts do not measure any base's record.

Law Changes and the Limits of the Records

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Both changes depend on the offense date, which the records do not include. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under both the old and new rules.

Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and the plea terms are not in these records. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 134 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.