Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, February 2018: The Month in Review
In February 2018 the Navy and Marine Corps tried 32 courts-martial. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 52% of them, compared with 34% for both services across all of 2018. Of convicted enlisted members, 54% received a punitive discharge, lower than the 66% share for the year.
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Trends › By Year › February 2018
Short answer: In February 2018 the Navy and Marine Corps tried 32 courts-martial. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 52% of them, compared with 34% for both services across all of 2018. Of convicted enlisted members, 54% received a punitive discharge, lower than the 66% share for the year.
Assault Was the Most Common Charge
Charges are listed for 31 of the 32 cases, and a case is counted once under each article it lists. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 16 cases (52%). For the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole in 2018, the figure was 34%.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was also more common than usual, at 23% compared with 16%. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) also appeared in 23%, compared with its 26% yearly share. Article 134 (the general article) appeared in 16%, compared with 15%.
Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 13% of cases. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation), Article 81 (conspiracy), and Article 86 (AWOL) each appeared in 10%. AWOL was more common than its 6% share for the year.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 16 | 52% | 34% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 7 | 23% | 16% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 23% | 26% |
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 16% | 15% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 13% | 10% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 10% | 13% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 10% | 9% |
| Art. 86 AWOL | 3 | 10% | 6% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than the Year
Among 28 convicted enlisted members, 15 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (54%, compared with 66% for 2018). Of those 15, 8 were dishonorable. A dishonorable discharge is the most severe discharge, and only a general court-martial can impose it.
The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
More Sentences Over One Year
There were 29 convictions on at least one charge, and 26 of those sentences included confinement (90%). The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 7 months for 2018.
More sentences than usual were longer than one year: 10 of 29 convictions (34%), compared with 30% for the year. Terms between 1 and 5 years made up 31% of convictions, compared with 20% for 2018. Only 1 conviction (3%) was 5 years or more.
Confinement figures are adjudged sentences. They come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal and reflect every charge of conviction in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 10% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 11 | 38% | 32% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 17% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 31% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 3% | 9% |
More General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 17 of the 32 cases (53%, compared with 45% for the year). A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. The other 15 were special courts-martial, where confinement is capped at one year and a dishonorable discharge is not available.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 2 years. At special courts-martial, the median was 4 months. Every sentence above one year and every dishonorable discharge in the month came from a general court-martial.
Pleas on Record
Only 16 of 32 records list a plea, which is typical of Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020. Of those, 13 were guilty pleas and 3 were not-guilty or mixed pleas.
The contested share was 19%, lower than the 28% for 2018. A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 3 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
Compared With February 2017
The number of cases went from 31 to 32. The contested share rose from 12% to 19%. The median confinement went from 7 months to 6 months.
The largest change was in punitive discharges, which fell from 78% to 54% of convicted enlisted members. Convictions with confinement fell from 100% to 90%. The general court-martial share rose from 42% to 53%. With monthly groups this small, a few cases can produce changes of this size.
| February 2017 | February 2018 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 31 | 32 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 12% | 19% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 2 | 2 of 3 |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 90% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 78% | 54% |
| General courts-martial | 42% | 53% |
A Junior Group of Accused
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 77% of the accused, NCOs made up 19%, and officers made up 3%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2018, junior enlisted accounted for 61%. The February group was more junior than the year.
Installations
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 6 of the cases. Camp Pendleton, California; Great Lakes, Illinois; Pensacola, Florida; and Norfolk, Virginia, had 3 each. These five account for 56% of the month's 32 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Context and Limits
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial with a six-month cap and no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements. None of those rules applied here.
The records cover only cases that reached trial. They do not include nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or cases closed with no action. They also do not describe the evidence or any 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 February 2018 (32 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)
- January 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 52 Cases (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, March 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.