What Okinawa, Japan Tried in 2024
Okinawa, Japan had 18 courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement after conviction was 11 months, compared with 5 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. Of 17 convicted enlisted members, 11 received a punitive discharge, and 6 of those were dishonorable discharges.
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Trends › By Installation › Okinawa, Japan › 2024
Short answer: Okinawa, Japan had 18 courts-martial in 2024. The median confinement after conviction was 11 months, compared with 5 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. Of 17 convicted enlisted members, 11 received a punitive discharge, and 6 of those were dishonorable discharges.
Discharges After Conviction
Of the 17 convicted enlisted members, 11 received a punitive discharge (65%). There were 6 dishonorable discharges and 5 bad-conduct discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2024, the punitive discharge share was 58%.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
An 11-Month Median
Of 17 convictions, 15 included confinement. The median confinement was 11 months, longer than the 5 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.3 years or longer.
These figures are adjudged sentences. They are set at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each one covers every charge in the case.
How Okinawa Compares With Norfolk and Kaneohe Bay
Norfolk, Virginia tried 24 cases in 2024 and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay tried 25. Their median confinement was 4 months and 5 months. Okinawa's median, 11 months, was the longest of these installations.
Kaneohe Bay had the highest punitive discharge rate, 78%, compared with 65% at Okinawa and 47% at Norfolk. Okinawa and Kaneohe Bay had the same contested share, 22%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa, Japan | 18 | 22% | 1 of 4 | 11 months | 65% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 24 | 26% | 4 of 6 | 4 months | 47% |
| Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 25 | 22% | 0 of 5 | 5 months | 78% |
Attempts and the General Article
All 18 records list the charges. Article 134 (general article) appeared in 7 cases (39%), compared with 22% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 80 (attempts) appeared in 4 cases, or 22%, compared with 7%.
Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) appeared in 3 cases (17%). Article 128 (assault), Article 120 (rape and sexual assault), Article 128b (domestic violence), and Article 129 (burglary and unlawful entry) each appeared in 2 cases (11%). A case with several articles counts under each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, Navy and Marine Corps-wide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 39% | 22% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 22% | 7% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 3 | 17% | 16% |
| Art. 129 Burglary; unlawful entry | 2 | 11% | 3% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 11% | 16% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 11% | 7% |
| Art. 128b Domestic violence | 2 | 11% | 13% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 1 | 6% | 4% |
Pleas and Acquittals
Guilty pleas came in 14 cases, and 4 cases were contested, meaning the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 22%, compared with 34% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of the 4 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal.
Who Was Tried
By rank, 13 accused were junior enlisted members and 5 were NCOs. No officers were tried. This group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2024.
General courts-martial made up 9 of the 18 cases (50%). A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial made up the rest.
New Rules From December 2023
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.
Both rules depend on the offense date. The records give only trial dates, so 2024 trials include cases under both the old and new rules. The records also leave out the evidence, the plea terms, nonjudicial punishment, and administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Okinawa, Japan with a trial date in 2024 (18 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
- Okinawa, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan: 2023 (previous / next)
- Okinawa, Japan in 2025: 20 Courts-Martial, Year in Review (previous / next)
- Inside 50 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2024–2026 (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2024
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 membership.
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.