Bad-Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges in the Navy and Marine Corps, Year by Year, 2017–2025
In 2025, 46% of convicted Navy and Marine Corps enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, the lowest share of any year from 2017 to 2025. The share was between 58% and 68% in every earlier year.
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Trends › Sentences › Navy-Marine Corps discharges
Short answer: In 2025, 46% of convicted Navy and Marine Corps enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, the lowest share of any year from 2017 to 2025. The share was between 58% and 68% in every earlier year. Across 2017 to 2025, 1933 of 3130 convicted enlisted members (62%) received a punitive discharge: 1350 bad-conduct and 583 dishonorable.
2025 Had the Lowest Discharge Share
287 enlisted members were convicted in 2025, and 46% received a punitive discharge. Bad-conduct discharges were 33% of those convictions and dishonorable discharges 13%, both the lowest yearly figures in the table.
In 2024, the share with either discharge was 58%, with 36% bad-conduct and 22% dishonorable. The records show the change by trial year. They do not show its cause.
Every Year From 2017 to 2025
The highest yearly share was in 2017, when 68% of 430 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. It was 66% in 2018, 60% in 2019, 62% in 2020, 64% in 2021 and 2022, and 63% in 2023.
Bad-conduct discharges were between 44% and 48% of enlisted convictions in every year from 2017 to 2023. Dishonorable discharges ranged from 16% to 23% over the same years. The number of convicted enlisted members per year went from 430 in 2017 to 265 in 2023, the smallest year.
| Year | Convicted enlisted | Bad-conduct | Dishonorable | Either |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 430 | 44% | 23% | 68% |
| 2018 | 426 | 46% | 21% | 66% |
| 2019 | 379 | 45% | 16% | 60% |
| 2020 | 350 | 44% | 18% | 62% |
| 2021 | 362 | 45% | 19% | 64% |
| 2022 | 307 | 48% | 16% | 64% |
| 2023 | 265 | 45% | 17% | 63% |
| 2024 | 324 | 36% | 22% | 58% |
| 2025 | 287 | 33% | 13% | 46% |
Discharges at Each Court Level
A punitive discharge for an enlisted member is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose either. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge.
Of 1252 enlisted members convicted at a general court-martial, 46% received a dishonorable discharge and 39% a bad-conduct discharge. Of 1878 convicted at a special court-martial, 46% received a bad-conduct discharge. General courts-martial made up 43% of all cases (1600 of 3740).
| Court | Convicted enlisted | Bad-conduct | Dishonorable |
|---|---|---|---|
| General court-martial | 1252 | 39% | 46% |
| Special court-martial | 1878 | 46% | 0% |
Officers
113 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and 43 were dismissed, the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Confinement in These Sentences
Of 3311 convictions, 2718 included confinement, and the median was 6 months. 3 sentences were for life. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in its case.
1168 convictions (35%) carried under 6 months of confinement, and 593 (18%) carried none. 817 (25%) carried more than one year, which only a general court-martial can adjudge. At general courts-martial, 91% of convictions brought confinement, with a median of 1.5 years. At special courts-martial, 76% did, with a median of 3 months.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 593 | 18% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 1168 | 35% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 733 | 22% | 22% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 601 | 18% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 216 | 7% | 7% |
Charges and Conviction Rates
3583 of the 3740 records list the charges, and each article counts once per case. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 1036 cases (29%), Article 112a (drug use or possession) in 825 (23%), Article 134 (general article) in 640 (18%), and Article 92 (orders violations) in 633 (18%). Article 120 (sexual assault) was charged in 480 (13%).
Article 134 most often ended in a conviction on that article, in 616 of 640 cases (96%), and its median confinement was 1.5 years. Article 128 least often did, in 878 of 1036 (85%). Convictions under Article 128 and Article 112a both had a median of 6 months, and Article 92 had 5 months.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 1036 | 29% | 29% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 825 | 23% | 23% |
| Art. 134 General article | 640 | 18% | 18% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 633 | 18% | 18% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 480 | 13% | 13% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 333 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 328 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 306 | 9% | 9% |
Pleas and Contested Verdicts
2633 of the 3740 records list the plea. There were 1798 guilty pleas and 835 contested cases, where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. Records from before December 2020 often omit the plea, so these counts use only records that list it.
Article 112a cases ended in a guilty plea 80% of the time (442 of 552), the most among the top charges. Article 128 cases did so 59% of the time (413 of 698).
Of 834 decided contested cases, 261 ended in a full acquittal (31%). Another 157 were partial acquittals, meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 1036 | 878 (85%) | 6 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 825 | 766 (93%) | 6 months |
| Art. 134 General article | 640 | 616 (96%) | 1.5 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 633 | 589 (93%) | 5 months |
Rank and Location
2203 accused were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 1165 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 134 were officers or warrant officers.
Camp Pendleton, California had the most cases (545), followed by Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (504), Norfolk, Virginia (354), San Diego, California (350), and Bremerton, Washington (266). Together they account for 54% of the 3740 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Law Changes and What Is Not Recorded
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019, and created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and for offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and cannot show whether any of these changes moved the discharge share.
Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not in these records. The evidence and the plea terms are not described.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with trial dates in 2017–2025 (3740 cases).
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
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.