> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases in 2017 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2017/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:17:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:11:56.000Z - Description: Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried in 2017, and the sentences were shorter than across the service. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 86, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 86](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) › Navy-Marine Corps, 2017 **Short answer:** Article 86 (AWOL) was charged in 38 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried in 2017, and the sentences were shorter than across the service. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 8 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year, and only 10% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 26% across the service. Based on 38 cases · 2017 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Shorter Confinement Than Most Cases Every one of the 38 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 35 of those sentences included confinement (92%). The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 8 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017\. A quarter of the sentences were 8 months or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, including the other offenses described below. ## Most Sentences Were Under 6 Months The under 6 months band had 21 convictions (55%), higher than the 37% service share. Another 10 (26%) were between 6 months and 1 year, about the same as the 23% across the service. Only 3 (8%) carried no confinement, compared with 10%. Long sentences were uncommon. Only 4 of 38 convictions (11%) brought more than one year, compared with 31% across the service. Of those, 3 (8%) were between 1 and 5 years and 1 (3%) was 5 years or more. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 3 | 8% | 10% | | Under 6 months | 21 | 55% | 37% | | 6 months to 1 year | 10 | 26% | 23% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 8% | 20% | | 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 10% | ## Special Courts-Martial Handled Most Cases Only 5 of the 38 cases were tried at a general court-martial (13%), compared with 44% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017\. The rest were tried at a special court-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. For most cases here, confinement could not be more than one year. ## Fewer Punitive Discharges Than Across the Service A punitive discharge followed 63% of enlisted convictions, slightly less often than the 68% across the service. Almost all were bad-conduct discharges: 21, compared with 1 dishonorable discharge. The 1 convicted officer or warrant officer here was not dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show. ## Other Charges in These Cases In 24 of the 38 cases, at least one other article was charged with Article 86\. Article 112a (drug) was the most common other charge, in 12 cases. Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 7, Article 92 (orders violation) in 6, and Article 128 (assault) and Article 87 (missing movement) in 3 each. A court-martial sentence covers the whole case, so the confinement and discharge figures include these other charges. ## Few Pleas on Record Only 10 of the 38 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. Of those, 9 show a guilty plea and 1 shows a contested case, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 10%, compared with 26% across the service. It is based on very few records. ## Rank and Installation Among the accused with rank recorded, 29 were junior enlisted, 6 were NCOs, and 1 was an officer. This group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2017. Camp Pendleton, California tried 19 of the cases, more than any other location. Bremerton, Washington tried 6, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 4, and Okinawa, Japan and San Diego, California 2 each. Together these five installations account for 87% of the 38 cases. Large bases try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at a particular installation. ## Before the 2019 Law Change These trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. That law introduced fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and written plea agreements. None of these applied to the cases here. Most of these cases were tried at special courts-martial. The judge-alone special court-martial did not exist in 2017, and the records cannot show how any of these cases would have been handled under it. ## What the Records Do Not Show Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or offense dates. They do not include absences handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. The counts here are only the absence cases that went to court-martial, not how often unauthorized absence happened in the Navy and Marine Corps that year. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 86 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?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 with a trial date in 2017 that charged Article 86 (38 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2016. 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 86 (AWOL): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [How Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases Ended in 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2018/) (previous / next) - [Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-trend-2017-2025/) (the full trend) - [AWOL at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2019/) - [How Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases Ended in 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2020/) - [Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases in 2022](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2022/) - [AWOL at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016: The Year in Numbers](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-86-2016/) - [What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Conviction?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-sent-2017-2025/) - [Article 86 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-86/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) Next: [How Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases Ended in 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-2018/) → **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.