> ## 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 AWOL Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-86-junior-enlisted/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-28T08:18:55.000Z - Description: Navy and Marine Corps records include 151 courts-martial from 2017–2025 charging junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) with absence without leave under Article 86. Of those convicted, 70% received a punitive discharge, more than the 63% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. - 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/) › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) **Short answer:** Navy and Marine Corps records include 151 courts-martial from 2017–2025 charging junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) with absence without leave under Article 86\. Of those convicted, 70% received a punitive discharge, more than the 63% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. Of contested cases that reached a verdict, 11% ended in a full acquittal (2 of 19), compared with 7% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. Based on 151 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Most Convicted Members Received a Punitive Discharge Of 149 convicted members, 104 received a punitive discharge: 97 bad-conduct discharges and 7 dishonorable discharges. The 70% share compares with 63% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. A dishonorable discharge requires a general court-martial. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show. ## Most Sentences Were Short Confinement was part of 141 of the 149 sentences (95%). The median confinement was 4 months, the same as for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. A quarter of sentences were 7 months or longer. The under 6 months band had 57% of convictions, compared with 52% across the service. The 6 months to 1 year band had 28%, compared with 24%. Only 5% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 13%. Sentences longer than one year were uncommon: 15 of 149 convictions (10%), about the same as the 11% for all Article 86 cases. All are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 8 | 5% | 13% | | Under 6 months | 85 | 57% | 52% | | 6 months to 1 year | 41 | 28% | 24% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 12 | 8% | 8% | | 5 years or more | 3 | 2% | 3% | ## Drug Charges Were the Most Common Other Charge Of the 151 cases, 119 charged at least one other article. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 65\. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 36, Article 128 (assault) in 19, Article 121 (larceny) in 18, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 14. A sentence covers all charges, so the discharge and confinement figures are for the whole case, not the absence alone. ## Contested Cases and Their Results Of 92 records that list a plea, 73 were guilty pleas and 19 were contested, meaning a not-guilty plea to at least one charge. The contested share, 21%, is slightly lower than the 24% for all Navy and Marine Corps AWOL cases. Of the 19 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal. Another 4 ended in a partial acquittal, with not-guilty findings on some charges and convictions on others. The 11% full-acquittal rate is higher than the 7% across the service. With so few contested cases, a single verdict changes the rate. ## Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial Of the 151 cases, 129 were special courts-martial and 22 were general courts-martial, a general share of 15%, compared with 16% for all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. The median confinement was 3 months at the special level and 1.5 years at the general level. The contested shares were 19% and 29%. ## Fewer Cases in Later Years There were fewer cases in later years. There were 29 cases in 2017 and 25 in 2018\. There were 16 in 2019, 19 in 2020, 12 in 2021, 17 in 2022, 11 in 2023, 12 in 2024, and 10 in 2025\. The records cover March 2017 through December 2025. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, which is why 92 of the 151 records list one. ## Where These Cases Were Tried Camp Pendleton, California tried 43 of the cases, the most of any installation. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 22, Norfolk, Virginia 17, Bremerton, Washington 13, and San Diego, California 12\. Together these account for 71% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a problem at a base. Junior enlisted members made up 82% of the accused across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 cases, These cases are most of the service's AWOL cases. Their figures for confinement, contested share, and court level are close to the service figures. ## Law Changes and Unrecorded Details The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It added judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding involves an offense after December 27, 2023, and the records list trial dates rather than offense dates. Absences handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation, not a court-martial, are not included. The records also do not show how long a member was absent, the evidence, or the plea terms. 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 tried 2017–2025 that charged junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) under Article 86 (151 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps Article 86 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 86 (AWOL): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-courts-martial/) (hub) - [What Happens to Army Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing AWOL Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-junior-enlisted/) - [NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Charged Under Article 86 in the Army](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-ncos/) - [What Happens to Air Force Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4) Facing AWOL Charges?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-86-junior-enlisted/) - [Army Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-86-trend-2021-2025/) - [Air Force Article 86 Cases by the Numbers, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-86-trend-2016-2025/) - [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) **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.