How Has Article 91 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 26 courts-martial charging Article 91 (insubordination) for 2017–2025, all tried between February 2021 and December 2025. These cases were contested more often than Navy and Marine Corps cases as a whole: 62% compared with 25%.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 91 › Navy-Marine Corps
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 26 courts-martial charging Article 91 (insubordination) for 2017–2025, all tried between February 2021 and December 2025. These cases were contested more often than Navy and Marine Corps cases as a whole: 62% compared with 25%. Yet 0 of the 15 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, compared with 31% across the service. Sentences were lighter: the median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months, and 26% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 62%.
Often Contested, Never Fully Acquitted
Of the 24 records that list a plea, 15 were contested and 9 were guilty pleas. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a not-guilty plea to every charge or a mixed plea.
The contested share was 62%, higher than the 25% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in the same years. None of the 15 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases, 31% of contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Another 7 contested cases were partial acquittals. In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
When the Cases Were Tried
All 26 cases were tried between February 2021 and December 2025. There were 5 cases in 2021, 2 in 2022, 8 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 5 in 2025. The records list 0 cases for each year from 2017 through 2020. Over the full period, these cases are 1% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in the data.
Article 91 appeared in 1% of convictions with offenses listed in 2021 and 2022, 3% in 2023, 1% in 2024, and 2% in 2025. The highest yearly count was 8 cases, in 2023. With yearly numbers this small, a change of a few cases moves the share noticeably. The share was small in every year, with no clear increase or decrease.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 91 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 437 | 0% |
| 2018 | 0 | 433 | 0% |
| 2019 | 0 | 373 | 0% |
| 2020 | 0 | 354 | 0% |
| 2021 | 5 | 385 | 1% |
| 2022 | 2 | 322 | 1% |
| 2023 | 8 | 283 | 3% |
| 2024 | 5 | 345 | 1% |
| 2025 | 5 | 312 | 2% |
Insubordination Charged With Other Offenses
Only 3 of the 26 cases charged Article 91 by itself. The most common other charge was Article 128 (assault), in 9 cases. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 7, Article 86 (AWOL) in 5, Article 112a (drug) in 5, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) in 4.
A sentence covers every charge in the case. The confinement and discharge figures below describe whole cases, not insubordination alone.
How Much Confinement Followed a Conviction?
Of the 26 cases, 25 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 13 of those sentences included confinement (52%). The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 6 months median across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 8 months or longer.
In 12 convictions (48%) the sentence had no confinement, compared with 18% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. 2 convictions (8%) carried 1 year to under 5 years, compared with 23% elsewhere. None was 5 years or more. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 12 | 48% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 32% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 16% | 22% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 1 | 4% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 0 | 0% | 7% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Of 23 convicted enlisted members, 6 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (26%). In the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps, 62% of enlisted convictions included one. None of the 6 here was a dishonorable discharge.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for enlisted members, or a dismissal for officers. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Special Courts-Martial and Junior Accused
Of these cases, 23 were special courts-martial and 3 were general courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 12%, compared with 43% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
The accused included 17 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 7 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 officers or warrant officers. The accused were more junior than in the service as a whole, where 63% were junior enlisted members.
Where the Cases Were Tried
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried the most cases, 6. Camp Pendleton, California tried 4, San Diego, California 4, Bremerton, Washington 3, and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay 1. Together these 5 locations account for 69% of the 26 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone says little about a particular base.
Law Changes and the Limits of the Records
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It added judge-alone special courts-martial and written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Offenses after December 27, 2023 are sentenced under new sentencing parameters. Both changes depend on the offense date, which the records do not give.
The records cover only cases that reached a courtroom. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations, and they do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025 that charged Article 91 (26 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.
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)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- Fewer or More? Insubordination Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (another service)
- How Has Article 91 Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016? (another service)
- Fewer or More? Attempt Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- Fewer or More? Child Endangerment Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Insubordination Conviction?
- 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.