Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Insubordination Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
None of the 15 contested Navy and Marine Corps cases with an Article 91 (insubordination) charge from 2017–2025 ended in a full acquittal (0 of 15), compared with 31% for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 91 › Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Insubordina
Short answer: None of the 15 contested Navy and Marine Corps cases with an Article 91 (insubordination) charge from 2017–2025 ended in a full acquittal (0 of 15), compared with 31% for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. Punitive discharges were less common: 1 of 13 convicted enlisted members (8%), compared with 50%.
No Full Acquittals in 15 Contested Cases
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. In the 15 contested Article 91 cases in these records, 0% ended in a full acquittal (0 of 15). Across all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in the same years, 31% ended in a full acquittal.
Partial acquittals were common. 7 of the 15 cases ended in a partial acquittal (47%): the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Every case in this group ended with at least one conviction.
Punitive Discharges Were Uncommon
Among 13 enlisted members convicted, 1 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (8%). In all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years, the rate was 50%. None of the punitive discharges here were dishonorable.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.
Confinement in 5 of 15 Convictions
Of the 15 convictions, 5 included confinement. The median confinement among those was 4 months, compared with 7 months for all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
These are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not only the Article 91 charge.
Charges Filed With Article 91
Article 91 was the only charge in 3 of the 15 cases. The other cases added at least one more article. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 4 cases and Article 128 (assault) in 4. Article 89 (disrespect) appeared in 3, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) and Article 86 (AWOL) in 2 each.
Who Was Charged
Among the accused with rank recorded, 8 were junior enlisted, 5 were NCOs, and 0 were officers. This group was more junior than the accused in all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
When the Cases Were Tried
The 15 trials took place between February 2021 and December 2025. The yearly counts were 2 in 2021, 0 in 2022, 6 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. No contested Article 91 cases appear from 2017 through 2020. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and this count uses only records that list one.
Trials from 2024 on may include cases decided under the sentencing rules for offenses after December 27, 2023. Those rules turn on the offense date, which these records do not give.
Limits of the Records
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, any plea terms, or misconduct handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. With 15 cases, a single case changes each percentage by a wide margin.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025: where the accused contested a charge under Article 91 (insubordination) (15 cases), compared with all contested Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years.
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 91 (Insubordinate Conduct Toward NCO): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- How Has Article 91 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Insubordination Conviction?
- Not Guilty Pleas in Army Article 91 Cases: What Happened at Trial (another service)
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Conduct Unbecoming Charge: How Contested Cases Ended
- 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.