What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in August 2018
The records show 49 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in August 2018. Article 92 orders violations were charged in 26% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 13% across 2018. Of the cases with a recorded plea, 36% were contested, compared with 28% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › August 2018
Short answer: The records show 49 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in August 2018. Article 92 orders violations were charged in 26% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 13% across 2018. Of the cases with a recorded plea, 36% were contested, compared with 28% for the year.
Orders and Larceny Charges Were More Common
Charges are listed for 46 of the 49 cases, and one case can count under several articles. Article 112a drug offenses were the most common charge, in 15 cases (33%, compared with 26% for the year). Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, was second, in 12 cases (26%, compared with 13% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2018).
Article 121 larceny was also more common than usual, in 9 cases (20%) compared with 11%. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 10 cases (22%). That is lower than the 34% for the year, when assault was the most common charge.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 33% | 26% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 12 | 26% | 13% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 22% | 34% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 9 | 20% | 11% |
| Art. 134 General article | 8 | 17% | 15% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 15% | 16% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 5 | 11% | 12% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 5 | 11% | 9% |
Conviction Rates on the Main Charges
All 15 drug cases ended with a conviction on Article 112a, and all 9 larceny cases ended with a conviction on Article 121. The median confinement in both groups was 6 months.
In 9 of 10 assault cases (90%), the accused was convicted of assault. The median confinement was 2.5 years, the longest among the leading charges. In 10 of 12 orders cases (83%), the accused was convicted under Article 92, and the median was 5 months.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 15 | 15 (100%) | 6 months |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 12 | 10 (83%) | 5 months |
| Art. 128 Assault | 10 | 9 (90%) | 2.5 years |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 6 months |
A Higher Share of Contested Cases
The plea is recorded in 22 of the 49 records. Among those, 14 accused pleaded guilty and 8 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested. The contested share was 36%, higher than the 28% for the year.
At general courts-martial, 42% of the cases with a plea were contested; at special courts-martial, 30% were. Of the contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 of 8 ended in a full acquittal. Records from before December 2020 often omit the plea, so these counts use only records that list it.
Sentence Lengths Similar to the Year
There were 44 convictions, and 37 included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, the same as the 7 months for both services across 2018. A quarter of the terms were 2.5 years or more.
The sentence ranges were about the same as the year. Terms under 6 months made up 32% of convictions, the same as the yearly 32%. Terms of 1 to 5 years made up 20%, also the same. In total, 12 of 44 convictions (27%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 30% for 2018. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 7 | 16% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 14 | 32% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 11 | 25% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 20% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 7% | 9% |
Sentences by Court Level
Of the 49 cases, 22 were general courts-martial (45%, matching the 45% for the year) and 27 were special courts-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge, while a general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.
The general courts-martial had a median confinement of 2.5 years. The special courts-martial had a median of 5 months. Every term above one year in this month came from a general court-martial, because a special court-martial cannot adjudge more than one year.
More Punitive Discharges Than the Year
Among 41 convicted enlisted members, 29 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (71%), compared with 66% for the year. Of those, 8 were dishonorable. Both of the month's 2 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed, the officer form of a punitive discharge.
A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
How August 2017 Compares
August 2017 had 37 cases, and August 2018 had 49. The contested share rose from 19% to 36%. The median confinement went from 9 months to 7 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 67% to 71%. The general court-martial share fell from 54% to 45%.
Full acquittals in decided contested cases went from 2 of 4 to 4 of 8. These groups are small, and a few cases can change a percentage, so the changes show direction, not precise size.
| August 2017 | August 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 37 | 49 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 19% | 36% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 4 | 4 of 8 |
| Convictions with confinement | 88% | 84% |
| Median confinement | 9 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 67% | 71% |
| General courts-martial | 54% | 45% |
Accused, Locations, and Limits
Among the accused with rank recorded, 25 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 20 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. That mix is more senior than the year, when 61% were junior enlisted. Norfolk, Virginia (10), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (9), Okinawa, Japan (6), Camp Pendleton, California (5), and Washington, D.C. (2) account for 65% of the cases.
These trials predate the Military Justice Act of 2016, which took effect on January 1, 2019, so its later changes to panels, special courts-martial, and plea agreements did not apply. The records leave out nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, the evidence, and plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in August 2018 (49 cases), compared with the whole 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
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, July 2018: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, September 2018: The Month in Review (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (the whole year)
- April 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases
- April 2020 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 18 Cases
- August 2017 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 37 Cases
- August 2019 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 34 Cases
- 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.