What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in December 2022
The Navy and Marine Corps tried 25 courts-martial in December 2022, according to the records. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 35% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 23% for both services across 2022.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › December 2022
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps tried 25 courts-martial in December 2022, according to the records. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 35% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 23% for both services across 2022. Of convicted enlisted members, 57% received a punitive discharge, lower than the yearly 64%.
More Assault and Orders Charges Than the Year
Charges are listed for 23 of the 25 records, and a case counts once under each article it charges. Article 128 assault appeared in 8 cases (35%, compared with 23% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2022). Article 92, failure to obey an order or regulation, appeared in 6 (26%, compared with 18%).
Article 134, the general article, appeared in 5 cases (22%, about the same as 20% for the year). Drug charges under Article 112a were less common than usual, in 4 cases (17%), compared with 22%. Several other articles each appeared in 2 cases (9%): Article 81 conspiracy, Article 80 attempts, Article 107 false official statements, and Article 131b obstructing justice.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 35% | 23% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 26% | 18% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 22% | 20% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 4 | 17% | 22% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 2 | 9% | 5% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 2 | 9% | 6% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 9% | 6% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 9% | 5% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges
Of 21 convicted enlisted members, 12 received a punitive discharge: 10 bad-conduct and 2 dishonorable. The share was 57%, compared with 64% for the year and 77% in December 2021. No convicted officers appear in the month's records.
A punitive discharge is the bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge an enlisted member can receive at trial. A sentence without one does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Confinement About the Same as the Year
Of 22 convictions, 82% included confinement. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months for the year. Each figure is the sentence adjudged at trial and covers every charge in the case, not only the most serious one.
Sentence lengths were about the same as in 2022. Terms under 6 months made up 41% of convictions (38% for the year). Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 23% (25%). Convictions with no confinement made up 18% (17%). Terms over one year were adjudged in 4 of 22 convictions (18%), about the same as the 20% for the year. Of those, 3 were between 1 and 5 years, and 1 was 5 years or more. Plea-agreement caps, clemency, and appeals can all change a sentence after trial, and none of that is reflected here.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 18% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 9 | 41% | 38% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 23% | 25% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 14% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 5% | 4% |
More Contested Cases at the General Level
Of the 25 cases, 12 were general courts-martial (48%, compared with 42% for the year) and 13 were special courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 1.3 years, and 50% of cases were contested. All 4 terms longer than one year came from this level. At special courts-martial, the median was 50 days, and only 15% were contested.
Pleas and Verdicts
The plea is recorded in 23 of the 25 records: 16 guilty pleas and 7 contested cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, whether to all charges or in a mixed plea. The contested share was 30%, compared with 33% for the year.
Of the contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 of 7 ended in a full acquittal, compared with 0 of 6 in December 2021.
Compared With December 2021
December 2021 had 28 cases; December 2022 had 25. The contested share rose from 24% to 30%. The median confinement went from 6 months to 5 months. Convictions with confinement fell from 92% to 82%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members fell from 77% to 57%. The general court-martial share fell from 54% to 48%.
In small groups, a few cases can change a percentage, so these changes show direction, not precise size.
| December 2021 | December 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 28 | 25 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 24% | 30% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 0 of 6 | 1 of 7 |
| Convictions with confinement | 92% | 82% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 5 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 77% | 57% |
| General courts-martial | 54% | 48% |
Ranks and Installations
Among the accused with rank recorded, 15 were junior enlisted and 7 were NCOs. That mix was about the same as the year as a whole.
No installation had more than 3 cases. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Pensacola, Florida, Norfolk, Virginia, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 3 cases each, and Mayport, Florida, had 2. Together they account for 56% of the 25 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a count of 3 says little about any one base.
Limits of the Trial Record
These records cover only what reached a courtroom. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, or cases closed with no action. They do not describe the evidence or any plea terms. They give trial dates but not offense dates.
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 December 2022 (25 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)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in November 2022 (previous / next)
- January 2023 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 25 Cases (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review (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.