MCAGCC Twentynine Palms: The Marine Corps' Live-Fire Proving Ground
Deep in the southern Mojave, the Marine Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms is the largest Marine Corps base in the country, the place where the Corps runs its biggest live fire, combined-arms training before units deploy. The infantry of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines and other 1st Marine Division units are stationed here, on the high desert the Marines call the Stumps, at the gateway to Joshua Tree National Park, under a blast-furnace summer sun and a genuine isolation that makes this one of the toughest billets in the Corps. Palm Springs is about an hour away when there is time to escape it. A command that runs training this large and this dangerous will move hard when something goes wrong or a Marine steps out of line.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and Marines fly us in from our office in Tampa, from the most remote base in the Corps to the busiest, because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, and we bring it wherever the case is.
The Marine Who Covered the Grenade
Twentynine Palms trains the Marines of 3/7, and that battalion's standard was set in Iraq by one of its own, Corporal Jason L. Dunham. On April 14, 2004, in Husaybah, when an insurgent dropped a grenade in the middle of his Marines during a close fight, Dunham threw himself on it and pressed his own helmet and body over the blast to absorb it. He saved the Marines around him and died of his wounds eight days later. The base named Dunham Hall for him; he was theirs, trained on this ground, and he spent his life to keep his Marines alive. That instinct to take the blast for his men is the standard we bring to a case at Twentynine Palms.
Why Marines at Twentynine Palms Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Marines fly us in from all over the country because of our trial record. The military justice system is not built to find the truth; it exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a command running constant high-risk training will make an example of a Marine to keep the rest sharp. A serious case is investigated by NCIS, and for sexual assault and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel. Your detailed defense counsel may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Marines serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms
The charges below are the most common at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms. They are examples of what we defend, not the boundaries of it.
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). These allegations route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and the command treats a report as established before the investigation is finished, all the more so on an isolated base where word of an allegation travels fast and the command wants to look decisive. These cases demand counsel who will run an independent investigation and contest the case rather than let the allegation stand in for proof, because a conviction can mean confinement and a federal record, with registration required for a covered sex offense under the applicable federal and state law.
Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and it treats strangulation or suffocation as its own charge that the government can bring even with no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end a Marine career because a Marine has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, the usual charge when a night out in the desert towns ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Training Mishaps: Dereliction and Reckless Operation (UCMJ Articles 92 and 113). The largest live fire training base in the Corps is where these charges live. The government brings dereliction of duty under Article 92 when it says a Marine failed a duty you knew or reasonably should have known, from a range-safety lapse to a negligent discharge during a combined-arms exercise, and reckless or impaired operation under Article 113 when a tactical vehicle rolls over in the training area or a Marine drives after drinking in the desert. A mishap in punishing field training is not the same as a crime, and the government still has to prove the duty, the breach, and a culpable state of mind, not just that something went wrong.
Drugs and Off Duty Conduct (UCMJ Articles 112a and 134). Drug cases often turn on the chain of custody and the government's burden to prove any use was knowing and wrongful. Marijuana is worth a clear warning here: it is legal under state law for adults off base, but it is still a federal controlled substance and a court martial offense under Article 112a, and being legal off post does not make it lawful for a Marine. A positive test is evidence the government may use to argue knowing, wrongful use, not an automatic finding of guilt, so the collection, the chain of custody, and whether any use was knowing all remain the government's to prove.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Marine who calls us from Twentynine Palms is innocent. What matters is how serious the case is, not your rank. If a matter is genuinely minor, your detailed defense counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly. But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction, and the parameters that now govern sentencing place each offense in a confinement range, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, binding the judge unless specific facts justify going lower, along with a punitive discharge and, on a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial at Twentynine Palms, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
Cases Connected to MCAGCC Twentynine Palms
These cases include trials, hearings, investigations, and administrative matters. A connection to this location does not necessarily mean that the trial occurred here.
- Case connected to this location: Marine’s Horseplay Ends with Sex Allegations, Bilecki Keeps Charges at Bay
FAQ
NCIS wants to interview me at Twentynine Palms. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for an NCIS interview or answer their questions. Under Article 31b of the UCMJ you have the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, and you can invoke both at any point, including before the interview begins. NCIS is collecting evidence, not giving you a chance to explain, and it takes very little to be titled as a subject, a label that follows you for years. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
There was an accident during a live fire training exercise. Could I be charged?
You can be, because Twentynine Palms runs some of the largest live fire training in the Corps, and when something goes wrong the command often looks for someone to hold responsible, as negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter, or dereliction of duty under Article 92. But a training accident is not automatically a crime: the government has to prove a real breach of a duty you knew or reasonably should have known that caused the harm, not just that a dangerous exercise went badly. These cases turn on the actual orders, the conditions, and the chain of decisions, so you need counsel who will reconstruct what really happened before you give a statement to investigators.
Marijuana is legal in California. Can I still be court martialed for it?
Yes. Marijuana is legal under California law for adults, but for a Marine it is still a controlled substance under federal law and a court martial offense under Article 112a, and the base is federal land where it is illegal no matter what the state allows. A positive urinalysis, an admission, or being caught with it can each bring a charge. The defense is real, though, because a positive test is only a permissive inference and not proof: the government still has to prove the use was knowing and wrongful, so the collection, the chain of custody, and the lab work all matter.