No Court Martial case is the exact same. However, statistically, the vast majority of the cases being prosecuted by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard pertain to sexual assault and domestic violence. In fact, in December 2023, every military branch stood up a specific prosecutorial command unit called the Office of the Special Trial Counsel (OSTC).

While no Court Martial case is the exact same, they all follow the same Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) process. That process does not change if you are Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard. Follow the fake case below, and the links in it, to better understand the entire Court Martial process.

Below is a fact pattern for our fake “SPC Smith” to see what different things mean in the Uniform Code of Criminal Justice (UCMJ) world, as well as what documents and court will look like for SPC Smith.

SPC Thomas A. Smith is married to Mrs. Jane Smith. They have one child together, Ronny Smith, who is ten years old. SPC Smith and his family arrived to Fort Liberty, North Carolina in June 2023. He is a 13B, assigned to HHC 108th Battalion, 18th Field Artillery Brigade. SPC Smith, Jane, and Ronny live off-post in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Arriving to Fort Liberty, SPC Smith and Jane started having marital problems. He found out she was using Tinder and seeing other Soldiers. On July 31, 2023, he confronted her about it. It turned into an argument, and they had a physical altercation. At one-point, SPC Smith accidentally put his hand on Jane’s throat when he was trying to stop her swinging at him, as he took her phone to see who she was texting. They ended the physical altercation when Jane ran to the bathroom. The police were not called, but Jane called her sister that night and told her what happened. Jane took pictures of her injuries to her throat and the damage from the fight in the kitchen. Ronny was in his room and could hear the entire altercation, but saw no physical contact between his parents. SPC Smith and Jane ultimately decided they were just going to try to work everything out.

In December 2023, Jane and Ronny went to the family’s home of record in Illinois. On December 31, 2023, SPC Smith went out with friends while his family was away and met PVT Amy Sanchez at a bar. PVT Sanchez’s boyfriend was out of town. PVT Sanchez’s boyfriend is another Soldier in her unit. SPC Smith and PVT Sanchez were both drinking heavily, making out at the bar, and eventually went back to PVT Sanchez’s barracks. They had sex. The next morning SPC Smith went home.

PVT Sanchez’s roommate, SPC Julie Adams, saw SPC Smith leave. Talking about the night before, PVT Sanchez told SPC Adams not to tell PVT Sanchez’s boyfriend she was out drinking with other guys. SPC Adams asked if PVT Sanchez had sex with SPC Smith. PVT Sanchez said she was blacked out, so if they did, she could not have consented, so it did not count as cheating on her boyfriend. SPC Adams told PVT Vasquez that if she did not tell someone about it, that SPC Adams would report it to the unit’s Victim Advocate (VA).

The next duty day was January 2, 2024. PVT Sanchez reported her sexual assault allegation to her First Sergeant and was taken to the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), where she was then brought to a Special Victims’ Counsel (SVC), CPT Victor Cousins.

On January 2, 2024, PVT Sanchez and her SVC went to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to make her sexual assault report. CID Special Agent (SA) Leon Edwards interviewed PVT Sanchez about her sexual assault allegation. From there, SA Edwards called Mrs. Jane Smith to interview her about this. Jane Smith said she is still married to SPC Smith. She was shocked by this news and was upset with SPC Smith. Jane Smith then set an interview with SA Edwards to discuss the July 31, 2023 fight with SPC Smith. Since that occurred off-post, SA Edwards had civilian police pick up SPC Smith for questioning about Jane Smith’s domestic violence allegation.

PVT Sanchez and SPC Smith are in different units, so he did not see her go to the First Sergeant or miss any work. Since SPC Smith is being accused of a crime and an investigation has started, CID notified his chain of command. SPC Smith’s commanding officer is CPT Mark Matthews. CPT Matthews now has to flag SPC Smith because SPC Smith is part of an investigation. However, CPT Matthews is told to wait on the flag, until law enforcement interviews SPC Smith, so SPC Smith does not know why he is there and maybe makes a statement to law enforcement.

On January 5, 2024, Fayetteville Police Department’s (FPD) Officer Anne Baker brought SPC Smith to the police station for questioning. Officer Baker did not read him his rights. Officer Baker then questioned SPC Smith about the domestic violence allegations. SPC Smith told FPD everything that happened. In an attempt to get more, FPD Officer Baker said that PVT Sanchez actually said she was raped by SPC Smith. Officer Baker then asked SPC Smith for his side of the story, which he provided in full detail. FPD filmed the entire interview, so they just sent it to CID, which used that as their investigation into SPC Smith.

Since SPC Smith’s interview is now over, CPT Matthews brought SPC Smith into his office on January 8, 2024 to give SPC Smith a counseling that a flag has been placed on SPC Smith for the pending sexual assault and domestic violence investigations. SPC Smith was also issued a Military Protective Order (MPO) that he cannot make any contact with PVT Sanchez, nor his wife until the investigations are over. The MPO was modified for the purposes of allowing SPC Smith to see his kids on weekends, but he otherwise has to stay in the barracks until the MPO is lifted.

SPC Smith heard about Trial Defense Services (TDS) from a friend in his unit who got an Article 15. SPC Smith calls TDS to ask what they can do for his case, but is told they unfortunately cannot do anything right now because no charges have been brought against SPC Smith yet.              

Months go by without any word from CPT Matthews about the investigation. Then on July 1, 2024 SPC Smith is brought to the Brigade Headquarters, handed documents, and had those documents read to him. Those documents are preferred charges for domestic violence and sexual assault.

SPC Smith is told an Article 32 hearing is set for July 22, 2024. The Preliminary Hearing Officer (PHO) is MAJ Mike Thomas. As this is a domestic violence and sexual assault case, the Office of the Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) will be prosecuting SPC Smith. The prosecutor is CPT Tyler Chambers. If probable cause is found at the Article 32, the Military Judge (MJ) will either be COL Mark Johnson or COL Jason McCormick.