> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Article 128 Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023: 36 Courts-Martial - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/okinawa-japan-article-128-2019-2023/ - Published: 2026-10-28T06:51:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:47:33.000Z - Description: The median confinement in Article 128 (assault) cases at Okinawa, Japan from 2019 to 2023 was 1.1 years, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. 15 of 33 convictions (45%) carried more than one year of confinement, compared with 24% service-wide. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Okinawa, Japan, Article 128, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Okinawa, Japan](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-okinawa-japan/) › Article 128, 2019–2023 **Short answer:** The median confinement in Article 128 (assault) cases at Okinawa, Japan from 2019 to 2023 was 1.1 years, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. 15 of 33 convictions (45%) carried more than one year of confinement, compared with 24% service-wide. 62% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, about the same as the 61% elsewhere. Based on 36 cases · 2019–2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## A Median Confinement Above One Year Okinawa's 36 assault cases in this period ended in 33 convictions. 30 of those convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 1.1 years. For Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases as a whole, it was 6 months. A quarter of the sentences at Okinawa were 2 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. ## How Long the Sentences Were 13 convictions (39%) carried more than 1 year but under 5 years of confinement, compared with 19% service-wide. 2 (6%) carried 5 years or more, compared with 5%. In total, 45% of sentences here were longer than one year, compared with 24% elsewhere. Shorter sentences were less common here. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were 15% of convictions here and 27% service-wide. Sentences under 6 months were 30% here and 35% service-wide. 3 convictions (9%) carried no confinement. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in 2019–2023 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 3 | 9% | 14% | | Under 6 months | 10 | 30% | 35% | | 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 15% | 27% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 13 | 39% | 19% | | 5 years or more | 2 | 6% | 5% | ## General and Special Courts-Martial General courts-martial tried 20 cases (56%) and special courts-martial tried 16\. The median confinement was 1.9 years in general courts-martial and 4 months in special courts-martial. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement. A special court-martial is capped at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Since 2019, a special court-martial can also be tried by a military judge alone, capped at six months of confinement with no punitive discharge. ## Pleas, Where the Records Show Them Only 16 of the 36 records list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit it. Of those 16, 13 accused pleaded guilty and 3 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. That is 19% contested, compared with 40% in Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases overall. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Because most records here lack a plea, this comparison covers only 16 of the 36 cases. It may not describe the cases whose plea was not recorded. A partial acquittal means not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another. ## Other Charges in Most Cases 25 of the 36 cases charged at least one other article. Article 120 (sexual assault) was the most common, in 13 cases. Article 134 (general article) and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) appeared in 5 each. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 4, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 3. When assault is charged with sexual assault or domestic violence, the assault charge can describe part of the same incident. The sentence covers the whole case. For that reason, the confinement figures are not a measure of assault alone. ## Punitive Discharges About the Same as the Service Of 32 enlisted members convicted, 20 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (62%). That is about the same as the 61% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. 9 of the 20 were dishonorable discharges. 1 convicted officer or warrant officer appears here, and that officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not cover. ## Rank and Timing Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 73% of the accused, NCOs 24%, and officers 3%. In all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128 cases in 2019–2023, junior enlisted members made up 63%. The trials took place from February 2019 through August 2023\. The number fell each year: 10 in 2019, 9 in 2020, 8 in 2021, 5 in 2022, and 4 in 2023\. Assault cases were 36% of the 100 courts-martial at Okinawa, Japan in those years. ## What the Records Cannot Show The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. Cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation are not included. The data describes the assault cases that reached a court-martial at Okinawa, not every assault allegation. It cannot show the strength of any one case. Each count above uses only the records that list that item, so some percentages rest on fewer than 36 cases. For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 128 on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Courts-martial tried at Okinawa, Japan in 2019–2023 that charged Article 128 (36 cases), compared with every Navy and Marine Corps case charging Article 128 in those years. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Okinawa, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-okinawa-japan/) (hub) - [Article 128 (Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-128-courts-martial/) (hub) - [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) (hub) - [Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 100 Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/okinawa-japan-courts-martial-2019-2023/) - [Inside 70 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2017–2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/okinawa-japan-courts-martial-2017-2018/) - [Inside 50 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2024–2026](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/okinawa-japan-courts-martial-2024-2026/) - [Did Assault Cases at Okinawa, Japan Change After 2019?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/okinawa-japan-article-128-before-after-2019/) - [Navy-Marine Corps Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-128-trend-2017-2025/) - [Article 128 explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ## Military Judges Who Presided Over Article 128 Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023 - [Adam King](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-adam-king/) - [Terrance Reese](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-terrance-reese/) - [Benjamin Robertson](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-benjamin-robertson/) Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the [Court-Martial Characters](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judges/) membership. **Compare: federal court.** [Aggravated Assault: Federal Sentences vs. Article 128 Courts-Martial, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-aggravated-assault-vs-article-128/) **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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.