Orders Violation at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2023: The Year in Numbers

Trends › By Offense › Article 92 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2023

Based on 56 cases · 2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Many Convictions Had No Confinement

Of 53 convictions on at least one charge, 34 included confinement. The other 19 (36%) had no confinement, higher than the 21% across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2023.

The median confinement was 5 months, shorter than the 6 months across the service. These are adjudged sentences, the terms announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in a case.

Sentence Lengths by Band

Under 6 months: 18 convictions (34%), about the same as the 33% across the service. 6 months to 1 year: 9 (17%), lower than the 23% across the service.

Only 7 of 53 convictions (13%) carried more than 1 year, compared with 23% across the service. Of those, 5 (9%) were between 1 and 5 years and 2 (4%) were 5 years or more. The share at 5 years or more was the same as the 4% across the service.

Contested Cases

The plea is listed in 54 of the 56 records: 35 guilty pleas and 19 not-guilty or mixed pleas. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested. The contested share was 35%, slightly higher than the 32% across the service.

Of the 19 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal (11%), lower than the 22% across the service. Another 9 were partial acquittals, in which the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another. Partial acquittals were more common here than full acquittals.

Discharges for Enlisted Members

Of 48 convicted enlisted members, 25 received a punitive discharge: 23 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. That is 52%, lower than the 63% across the Navy and Marine Corps.

No officers appear among the accused. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not include.

Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. The next section shows how many of these cases were general courts-martial.

Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial

Of the 56 cases, 42 were special courts-martial and 14 were general courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 25%, compared with 46% across the service in 2023.

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. The median confinement was 1.8 years at general courts-martial and 3 months at special courts-martial. Cases were contested more often at general courts-martial, 46%, than at special courts-martial, 32%.

Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge

In 13 of the 56 cases, Article 92 was the only charge. In the other cases, Article 128 (assault) was the most common other charge, in 16 cases. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 9, Article 107 (false official statement) and Article 112a (drug) in 7 each, and Article 121 (larceny) in 6. The sentences above cover these charges too.

Change From 2022

There were 56 cases in 2023, compared with 63 in 2022. The contested share was 35%, compared with 38%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict were 3 of 24 in 2022 and 2 of 19 in 2023. The median confinement was 5 months in both years. The general court-martial share was 25%, compared with 27%.

The largest change was in convictions with confinement: 64% in 2023, compared with 77% in 2022. Enlisted punitive discharges were 52%, compared with 57%. In groups this size, a few cases can change a figure, so the changes show direction only.

Rank and Installations

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 56% of the accused and NCOs were 44%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2023, junior enlisted members were 65%, so the accused here were more senior.

Camp Pendleton, California tried 10 of these cases and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 6. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and Parris Island, South Carolina tried 4 each. Together these locations account for 50% of the 56. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count is not evidence of a problem at a base.

Limits of the Records

The records list trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Orders violations handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included, so these 56 cases are only the ones that reached a court-martial.

Without offense dates, a trial in 2023 may concern conduct from an earlier year. The confinement figures are adjudged terms and may differ from time actually served. The records cannot show why an accused chose to plead guilty or to contest the charges.

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.

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.