Assault Charges at Okinawa, Japan, 2017–2018: Pleas, Verdicts, and Sentences

Trends › By Installation › Okinawa, Japan › Article 128, 2017–2018

Based on 29 cases · 2017–2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Long Sentences for Assault

Okinawa tried 29 Article 128 (assault) cases in these years, and all 29 ended in a conviction. 97% of the convictions included confinement. Half of the sentences were 2 years or less, so the median confinement was 2 years. In Article 128 cases across the Navy and Marine Corps, the median was 10 months.

A quarter of the sentences were 5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. They show what the court announced at trial, not the time actually served.

Sexual Assault Charges in Many Assault Cases

24 of the 29 cases charged at least one other article. Article 120 (sexual assault) was the most common, in 17 cases. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) and Article 80 (attempt) appeared in 10 each. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 6, and Article 82 (solicitation) in 4.

When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, the assault charge can describe part of the same incident. A sentence covers the whole case. For that reason, the long sentences here are not a measure of assault alone.

How Long the Sentences Were

17 of 29 convictions (59%) carried more than one year of confinement, compared with 37% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. 10 (34%) were more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 21% elsewhere. 7 (24%) were 5 years or more, compared with 16%.

Short sentences were less common here. 1 conviction (3%) carried no confinement, compared with 9% elsewhere. 5 (17%) carried under 6 months, compared with 31%. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement.

Punitive Discharges in 90% of Enlisted Convictions

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. Of 29 convicted enlisted members, 26 received a punitive discharge. 16 were dishonorable discharges and 10 were bad-conduct discharges. In all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in 2017–2018, 66% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not cover. With 29 convictions, each discharge moves the rate by several points. The difference from the service-wide rate is large, but it comes from a small group.

Rank and Court Level

The accused were 20 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 9 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 officers or warrant officers. That mix is more junior than Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall, where 65% of the accused were junior enlisted.

General courts-martial tried 20 of the 29 cases (69%), compared with 60% service-wide. 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 cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

41% of Okinawa's Courts-Martial

Assault was charged in 29 of the 70 courts-martial at Okinawa, Japan between January 2017 and December 2018, or 41%. The count was about the same in both years: 15 in 2017 and 14 in 2018. A case counts here whenever Article 128 is among its charges, even when another charge is more serious. For example, a case charging assault and sexual assault counts as an assault case here and also as an Article 120 case.

Rules That Applied

Every case here was tried 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 capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and introduced written plea agreements.

None of those changes applied to the trials counted here. The records cannot show how these cases would have been decided under the later rules. The records give trial dates, not offense dates.

What the Records Cannot Show

These are court-martial outcomes only. Assaults handled by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action do not appear. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum, so this page reports no plea breakdown. The data describes the assault cases that reached a courtroom at Okinawa, not every assault allegation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

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.