A Year of Courts-Martial at Yokosuka, Japan: 2013
Yokosuka, Japan held 17 courts-martial in 2013. 87% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 64% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 41% of the cases, compared with 22% service-wide.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Yokosuka, Japan › 2013
Short answer: Yokosuka, Japan held 17 courts-martial in 2013. 87% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 64% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was charged in 41% of the cases, compared with 22% service-wide.
Most Convicted Enlisted Members Received a Punitive Discharge
13 of the 15 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (87%). 11 were bad-conduct discharges and 2 were dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2013, the share was 64%.
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Orders Violations and False Statements
All 17 cases have a charge list. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) and Article 128 (assault) each appeared in 7 cases (41%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the shares were 22% and 38%. Article 107 (false official statements) appeared in 5 cases (29%), compared with 17%.
Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 3 cases (18%), compared with 22%. Larceny under Article 121 appeared in 2 cases (12%), compared with 20%. A case with several articles is counted under each one.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 41% | 22% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 41% | 38% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 5 | 29% | 17% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 3 | 18% | 22% |
| Art. 134 General article | 3 | 18% | 17% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 2 | 12% | 20% |
| Art. 89 Disrespect toward superior officer; assault of superior officer | 1 | 6% | 2% |
| Art. 113 Misbehavior of a sentinel | 1 | 6% | 3% |
Confinement
15 cases ended in a conviction, and 14 of those sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 9 months, longer than the 6-month median across the Navy and Marine Corps. Among the sentences with confinement, a quarter were 10 months or longer.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.
Special Courts-Martial Heard Most Cases
Special courts-martial heard 11 cases and general courts-martial heard 6. The general share of 35% was about the same as the 37% service-wide. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge but not a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence.
By rank, the accused were 5 junior enlisted members and 12 NCOs. No officers were tried. That mix is more senior than in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole.
Pleas and Full Acquittals
16 of the 17 records list the plea. Of those, 11 were guilty pleas and 5 were not-guilty or mixed pleas, a contested share of 31%. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the contested share was 32%. 2 of the 5 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal.
Jacksonville and San Diego
Jacksonville, Florida tried 20 cases in 2013 and San Diego, California tried 44. Their median confinement was 7 months and 6 months, and their punitive discharge rates were 67% and 54%. Yokosuka had the longest median confinement and the highest punitive discharge rate of the installations in the table. Its contested share of 31% was also the highest, compared with 15% at Jacksonville and 20% at San Diego.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokosuka, Japan | 17 | 31% | 2 of 5 | 9 months | 87% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 20 | 15% | 1 of 3 | 7 months | 67% |
| San Diego, California | 44 | 20% | 3 of 9 | 6 months | 54% |
Before the 2019 Changes
These trials came before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Its fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements did not apply here. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea and forum. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, and they do not describe the evidence, the plea terms, or nonjudicial punishment.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Yokosuka, Japan with a trial date in 2013 (17 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
- Yokosuka, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- What Yokosuka, Japan Tried in 2014 (previous / next)
- Yokosuka, Japan, 2013–2018: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 96 Cases (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
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- 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.