The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018
The Navy and Marine Corps records show 495 courts-martial in 2018. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 10% in the other services in 2018. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 4 months in the other services.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps records show 495 courts-martial in 2018. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of them, compared with 10% in the other services in 2018. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 4 months in the other services.
What Sailors and Marines Were Charged With
Of the 495 records, 477 list the charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 34% of cases, compared with 10% in the other services in 2018. Article 80 (attempt) was charged in 12%, compared with 1%, and Article 121 (larceny) in 11%, compared with 5%.
Article 112a (drug) was charged in 26% of cases here, compared with 47% in the other services. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 15%, compared with 27%. Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 16% of cases.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 161 | 34% | 10% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 126 | 26% | 47% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 77 | 16% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 71 | 15% | 27% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 63 | 13% | 15% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 55 | 12% | 1% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 54 | 11% | 5% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 53 | 11% | 7% |
More Sentences in the Middle Range
Confinement was part of 85% of the 449 convictions. The median confinement was 7 months. The other services in 2018 had a median of 4 months. 1 term was a life sentence. All of these are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Under 6 months: 32% of convictions here, compared with 48% in the other services. 6 months to 1 year: 23%, compared with 13%. More than 1 year: 133 of 449 convictions (30%), compared with 20%. No confinement: 67 convictions (15%), compared with 18% in the other services.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 67 | 15% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 145 | 32% | 48% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 104 | 23% | 13% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 91 | 20% | 12% |
| 5 years or more | 42 | 9% | 8% |
Few Pleas on Record
Only 220 of the 495 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Among those 220, 159 accused pleaded guilty and 61 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 28%. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either to every charge or as a mixed plea.
Guilty plea rates differed by charge. Cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 91% of the time (49 of 54). Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 18% of the time (7 of 39). The records do not say why an accused chose to plead guilty or to contest.
Acquittals and Results for Each Article
Of the 61 contested cases with a verdict, 28 ended in a full acquittal (46%). In 2017, the figure was 33 of 61. Many pleas are missing, so these counts cover only part of the year.
For individual articles, Article 134 cases most often ended in a conviction on that article (68 of 71, or 96%). Article 120 cases least often did (55 of 77, or 71%). The median confinement was 3.3 years for Article 120 convictions and 1.7 years for Article 134 convictions. A case can include several articles, so the rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 161 | 138 (86%) | 10 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 126 | 118 (94%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 77 | 55 (71%) | 3.3 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 71 | 68 (96%) | 1.7 years |
General and Special Courts-Martial
Only a general court-martial can impose more than 1 year of confinement. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. General courts-martial were 45% of the year's cases (224 of 495). Special courts-martial were the rest.
At the 224 general courts-martial, the median confinement was 2.1 years and 41% of cases were contested. At the 271 special courts-martial, the median was 4 months and 17% of cases were contested.
Discharges and Dismissals
Of 426 convicted enlisted members, 282 received a punitive discharge: 194 bad-conduct discharges and 88 dishonorable discharges. That is 66%, higher than the 58% in the other services in 2018. Of 19 convicted officers or warrant officers, 9 were dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge can still be followed by an administrative separation.
Who Was Tried, and Where
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 61% of the accused, NCOs were 34%, and officers were 5%. In the other services in 2018, junior enlisted members were 63%.
Camp Pendleton, California (78), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (73), Norfolk, Virginia (55), Okinawa, Japan (40), and San Diego, California (36) together tried 57% of the year's cases. The largest installations try more cases of all types.
Change From 2017
There were 495 cases in 2018, compared with 507 in 2017. The contested share was 28%, compared with 26%. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 8 months. The enlisted punitive discharge share was 66%, compared with 68%. In groups of this size, a few cases can change these figures.
These trials all took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Its later changes, including written plea agreements and judge-alone special courts-martial limited to 6 months of confinement, did not apply to them.
| 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 507 | 495 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 26% | 28% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 33 of 61 | 28 of 61 |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 85% |
| Median confinement | 8 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 68% | 66% |
| General courts-martial | 44% | 45% |
Limits of the Records
Trial records cover charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, offense dates, or conduct handled outside a court-martial. Plea counts for these years use only the records that list a plea.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every Navy and Marine Corps court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2018 (495 cases), compared with the other services in 2018 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
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2017 (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2023: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review
- 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.