Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Disobeying An Officer Charge: How Contested Cases Ended

Trends › By Offense › Article 90 › Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Disobeying

Based on 27 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Few Full Acquittals, Lighter Sentences

Article 90 covers willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and striking or assaulting one. In the Navy and Marine Corps records, 27 courts-martial from October 2018 to December 2025 included a contested charge under Article 90. None of these cases had a guilty plea (0).

Only 1 of those 27 cases ended in a full acquittal (4%), lower than the 31% for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases. Another 12 (44%) were partial acquittals: the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. That left 26 convictions. As the sections below show, those convictions had shorter confinement and fewer discharges than the comparison group.

Bad-Conduct Discharges Only

Of 25 convicted enlisted members, 8 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (32%). Across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases, the figure was 50%. All 8 were bad-conduct discharges; 0 were dishonorable.

Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. For a member convicted at a special court-martial, the most severe discharge available is the bad-conduct discharge. A sentence without any punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.

Many Convictions Had No Confinement

Confinement was part of the sentence in 54% of the 26 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 7 months across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases.

In the band table, 12 convictions (46%) had no confinement, compared with 34% in the comparison group. Only 3 of 26 convictions (12%) carried more than 1 year, compared with 24%. No sentence was 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Special Courts-Martial Tried Most Cases

Special courts-martial tried 15 of these cases and general courts-martial tried 12. The general court-martial share was 44%, lower than the 53% across contested Navy and Marine Corps cases.

The median confinement was 1 year at general courts-martial and 38 days at special courts-martial. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.

Charged With Other Offenses

Article 90 was the only charge in 2 of 27 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was the most common other charge, in 11 cases. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 8, Article 128b (domestic violence, numbered since 2019) and Article 134 (general article) in 7 each, and Article 86 (AWOL) in 6.

Each sentence covers every charge, so these figures describe whole cases. The records do not show the punishment for the disobedience charge by itself.

No Officers Among the Accused

Among the accused with rank recorded, 14 were junior enlisted members and 12 were NCOs. There were 0 officers. The accused were more junior than in contested Navy and Marine Corps cases overall.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 7 cases, Camp Pendleton, California 5, Norfolk, Virginia 4, and Quantico, Virginia and San Diego, California 2 each. These 5 locations account for 74% of the 27. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count does not point to a local problem.

Most Cases Were Tried After 2020

There was 1 case in 2018 and 2 in 2020, with none in 2017 or 2019. There were 5 cases in 2021, 5 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 7 in 2024, and 6 in 2025.

Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and contested counts here use only the records that list it. The early counts therefore include only records with a plea, and the records cannot show why the later counts changed. The records also give trial dates rather than offense dates, so a case tried in 2024 may involve conduct from an earlier year.

Rule Changes and Gaps

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both changes depend on offense dates, which the records omit. Trials from 2024 on therefore include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

Cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not in these records. The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 90 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.