What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in January 2022
The records list 27 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from January 2022. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 32% 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 › January 2022
Short answer: The records list 27 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from January 2022. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 32% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 23% for both services across 2022. Of convicted enlisted members, 73% received a punitive discharge, compared with 64% for the year.
More Child-Related Charges Than the Year
Charges are listed for 25 of the 27 cases, and the shares below use those 25. An article counts once per case, so a single case can count under several articles.
The largest differences from the year were in charges involving children. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 16% of cases, compared with 4% for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2022. Article 119b (child endangerment) appeared in 12%, compared with 1%.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was also more common than the year, at 16% compared with 9%. Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 12%, compared with 5%.
Assault and Other Common Charges
Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 8 cases (32%), compared with 23% for the year. Article 134 (the general article) and Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) each appeared in 24%, higher than their yearly shares of 20% and 22%.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 16%, compared with its 18% share for 2022.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 8 | 32% | 23% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 24% | 20% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 6 | 24% | 22% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 4 | 16% | 4% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 16% | 18% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 16% | 9% |
| Art. 119b Child endangerment | 3 | 12% | 1% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 12% | 5% |
Punitive Discharges
Among 22 convicted enlisted members, 16 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (73%). That was higher than the 64% for both services in 2022. Of the 16, 4 were dishonorable, the most severe discharge, which only a general court-martial can impose.
The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not show.
Confinement About the Same as the Year
Of the 23 convictions, 83% included confinement. The median confinement was 7 months, compared with 6 months for 2022.
Sentence lengths were about the same as the year. Convictions with no confinement made up 4 convictions (17%), the same as the year's 17%. Terms under 6 months made up 35%, and terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 30%, compared with 38% and 25%. Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 4 of 23 convictions (17%), about the same as the 20% yearly figure. Of those, 1 was 5 years or more.
These figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They reflect every charge of conviction in each case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 4 | 17% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 35% | 38% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 7 | 30% | 25% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 3 | 13% | 16% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 4% |
Pleas and Acquittals
A plea is recorded in 25 of the 27 cases. Of those, 19 accused pleaded guilty, and 6 pleaded not guilty to at least one charge.
The contested share was 24%, compared with 33% for the year. Of the 6 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
A contested case can also end in a partial acquittal, with a not-guilty finding on one charge and a guilty finding on another. The records count such a case as a conviction. The full-acquittal figure counts only cases with a not-guilty finding on every charge.
Most Cases Were Special Courts-Martial
The month had 9 general and 18 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 33%, lower than the 42% for 2022.
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable one, so only the 9 general courts-martial could adjudge terms longer than one year.
A Year After January 2021
January 2021 had 38 cases, and January 2022 had 27. The median confinement fell from 10 months to 7 months. Convictions with confinement fell from 91% to 83%. The general court-martial share fell from 53% to 33%.
Other figures rose. The contested share went from 18% to 24%. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 65% to 73%. Monthly groups are small, and a few cases can account for any of these changes.
| January 2021 | January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 38 | 27 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 18% | 24% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 6 | 2 of 6 |
| Convictions with confinement | 91% | 83% |
| Median confinement | 10 months | 7 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 65% | 73% |
| General courts-martial | 53% | 33% |
Rank and Location
Among the accused with rank recorded, 18 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 5 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. That mix was more junior than the year, when 65% were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 5 cases. Okinawa, Japan, had 4, and Norfolk, Virginia, had 3. Mayport, Florida, and Jacksonville, Florida, had 2 each. These five account for 59% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Limits of the Records
The data cover only trials. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases closed without action do not appear. The records do not describe the evidence or plea terms. They also record when a case was tried, not when the offense took place.
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 January 2022 (27 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 December 2021 (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in February 2022 (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.