How Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Cases Ended in 2018
In 2018, 63 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 92 (orders violation). Only 8% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% across the service.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2018
Short answer: In 2018, 63 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 92 (orders violation). Only 8% of cases with a recorded plea were contested, compared with 28% across the service. Of convicted enlisted members, 61% received a punitive discharge, compared with 66% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
Many Convictions Without Confinement
Of 59 convictions on at least one charge, 17 (29%) had no confinement, compared with 15% across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2018. Confinement was part of 71% of the convictions.
The median confinement was 7 months, the same as the 7 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases. A quarter of those terms were 1.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers all the charges in a case.
The Full Range of Terms
Under 6 months: 17 convictions (29%), compared with 32% across the service. 6 months to 1 year: 11 (19%), compared with 23%.
More than 1 year: 14 of 59 convictions (24%), less often than the 30% across the service. Of those, 7 (12%) were between 1 and 5 years and 7 (12%) were 5 years or more. The share at 5 years or more was slightly higher than the 9% across the service.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 17 | 29% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 17 | 29% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 19% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7 | 12% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 7 | 12% | 9% |
Sentences Differed by Court Level
Special courts-martial tried 44 of these cases and general courts-martial tried 19. The general court-martial share was 30%, compared with 45% across the service. 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.
At general courts-martial, 84% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 2.7 years. At special courts-martial, 65% did, and the median was 4 months.
Discharges and Officers
A punitive discharge followed 61% of enlisted convictions, slightly lower than the 66% across the service. There were 22 bad-conduct discharges and 11 dishonorable discharges.
The group includes 4 convicted officers or warrant officers, and none was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge or dismissal does not rule out an administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Other Charges in the Same Cases
Article 92 was the only charge in 11 of the 63 cases. Article 112a (drug) was the most common other charge, in 23 cases. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 12, and Article 121 (larceny), Article 134 (general article), and Article 81 (conspiracy) in 8 each. A sentence covers all of these charges together.
The records give one sentence per case, not one per charge. A long term in a case that also included a drug or assault charge cannot be traced to the orders violation alone.
Most Recorded Pleas Were Guilty Pleas
Only 13 of the 63 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those 13, 12 accused pleaded guilty and 1 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 8%, compared with 28% across the service, but it rests on very few records.
How 2018 Differed From 2017
There were 63 cases in 2018, compared with 81 in 2017. Convictions with confinement were 71%, compared with 88%. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 8 months. Enlisted punitive discharges were 61%, compared with 64%. The general court-martial share was 30%, compared with 38%, and the contested share was 8%, compared with 18%.
Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 1 of 2 in 2017 and 1 of 1 in 2018. Counts that small say almost nothing about acquittal rates. The other changes also show direction more than exact size.
| 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 81 | 63 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 18% | 8% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 2 | 1 of 1 |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 71% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 64% | 61% |
| General courts-martial | 38% | 30% |
Rank and Installations
Among the accused with rank recorded, 35 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 20 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 4 were officers or warrant officers. This is similar to all Navy and Marine Corps cases, where 61% of the accused were junior enlisted members.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 12 of these cases and Camp Pendleton, California tried 10. Okinawa, Japan tried 7, and Bremerton, Washington and Quantico, Virginia tried 5 each. Together these locations account for 62% of the 63. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count is not a sign of a problem at any one base.
Pre-2019 Rules and the Limits of the Data
All of these trials took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. The later fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial limited to 6 months of confinement without a punitive discharge, and written plea agreements did not apply.
The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, or offense dates. They do not include cases handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 92 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 92 (63 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 92 (Failure to Obey Order or Regulation): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Orders Violation at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 92 Cases in 2019 (previous / next)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 92, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Cases Ended in 2022
- How Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Cases Ended in 2024
- How Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Cases Ended in 2025
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Orders Violation Conviction?
- Article 92 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.