How Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases Ended in 2018
The Navy and Marine Corps tried 27 courts-martial charging Article 86 (AWOL) in 2018. A punitive discharge followed 81% of enlisted convictions, compared with 66% across the service.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 86 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2018
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps tried 27 courts-martial charging Article 86 (AWOL) in 2018. A punitive discharge followed 81% of enlisted convictions, compared with 66% across the service. The median confinement was 6 months, slightly shorter than the 7 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
Bad-Conduct Discharges, and No Dishonorable Ones
Of 26 convicted enlisted members, 21 received a bad-conduct discharge. None received a dishonorable discharge, which only a general court-martial can impose. The punitive-discharge share was 81%, compared with 66% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
A punitive discharge is part of the sentence. Members whose sentences do not include one can still be separated administratively, which these records do not show.
Almost All Special Courts-Martial
Only 2 of the 27 cases were tried at a general court-martial (7%), compared with 45% across the service in 2018. The rest were tried at special courts-martial.
A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Those limits applied to almost every case here. There were no dishonorable discharges and few long sentences.
Confinement Measured in Months
All 27 cases ended in a conviction, and confinement was part of 93% of them. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 7 months across the service. A quarter of sentences were 7 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in a case, not just the absence.
Sentence Lengths by Band
The under 6 months band had 13 convictions (48%), compared with 32% across the service. The 6 months to 1 year band had 10 (37%), compared with 23%. Only 2 convictions (7%) carried no confinement, compared with 15% across the service.
Only 2 of 27 convictions (7%) brought more than one year, and both were between 1 and 5 years. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2018, 30% of convictions brought more than one year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 2 | 7% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 48% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 10 | 37% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 2 | 7% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 9% |
Drug Charges Were the Most Common Other Charge
Article 86 was the only charge in 8 of the 27 cases. When something else was charged, it was most often Article 112a (drug), in 15 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 3, and Article 121 (larceny), Article 128 (assault), and Article 107 (false official statement) appeared in 2 each.
Each sentence covers all of the charges in its case. Where a case also had a drug or larceny charge, the confinement and discharge figures on this page include it. The records do not divide a sentence by charge.
From 2017 to 2018
The number of cases went from 38 to 27. Median confinement went from 4 months to 6 months. The punitive-discharge share for enlisted members went from 63% to 81%. Convictions with confinement were about the same, 92% and then 93%. The general court-martial share went from 13% to 7%.
Few records list a plea in either year. In 2018, 1 of 9 recorded pleas was contested, meaning a not-guilty or mixed plea. In each year, the 1 contested case that reached a verdict did not end in a full acquittal. In groups this small, a few cases can change each figure, so the changes show direction only.
| 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 38 | 27 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 10% | 1 of 9 |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 |
| Convictions with confinement | 92% | 93% |
| Median confinement | 4 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 63% | 81% |
| General courts-martial | 13% | 7% |
Rank and Installation
Among the accused with rank recorded, 25 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4) and 1 was an NCO (E-5 to E-9). No officers or warrant officers appear. Junior enlisted members were 61% of all Navy and Marine Corps accused in 2018, so this group was more junior.
Camp Pendleton, California tried 10 of the cases. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 4, Norfolk, Virginia tried 3, and MCAS Miramar, California and Bremerton, Washington tried 2 each. Together they account for 78% of the 27 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at any base.
Rules in Force at the Time
All of these trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and written plea agreements came afterward and did not apply.
The judge-alone special court-martial created by that law cannot impose a punitive discharge. Almost every case here was tried at a special court-martial. These records cannot show how any 2018 case would have ended under the later rules.
What the Records Do Not Show
Only cases that went to court-martial are counted. Absences handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in these records. The records also do not show the evidence, plea terms, or offense dates. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the plea figures here are based on few cases.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 86 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in 2018 that charged Article 86 (27 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2017.
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
- Article 86 (AWOL): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases in 2017 (previous / next)
- AWOL at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- How Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases Ended in 2020
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 86 Cases in 2022
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Conviction?
- Article 86 explained on the law firm's website
- 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.