Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia: Remote, Joint, and a Long Way From a Courtroom
In the middle of the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia is one of the most isolated American military outposts in the world. The atoll is British territory hosting a joint UK–U.S. military facility and run as Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, a joint base that supports the fleet, beds down Air Force bombers, and holds the prepositioning ships that let the United States reach across the region. The service members here are Navy, Air Force, and Army, far from home with no town off the gate and nowhere to go. It is a place built for reach, and the investigation here can shape a case later tried thousands of miles away.
That distance is the whole point of how a case here works, and it is what a service member needs to understand from day one.
The Pilot Who Flew Seven Hundred Miles Alone
Diego Garcia exists to project power over great distances, and few embodied that reach like Lieutenant Commander Bruce A. Van Voorhis. On July 6, 1943, to break up a Japanese attack forming against American forces in the Solomons, Van Voorhis took his patrol bomber off in total darkness on a seven hundred mile flight, alone, with no escort and little chance of coming back. He pressed six low-level attacks against the enemy's base, destroying the radio station, the antiaircraft guns, and aircraft on the water and in the air, and was caught in the blast of his own bombs and went down in the lagoon. He gave everything on a mission only he could fly. That willingness to go the distance when no one else can is the standard we bring to a case out of Diego Garcia.
Why a Case Out of Diego Garcia Needs the Right Lawyer Early
A case that begins at Diego Garcia may be tried elsewhere in the theater or back in the States, depending on the referral, command arrangements, and available facilities. The investigation on the island is exactly where these cases are shaped. If a case reaches a courtroom thousands of miles away, the record built in that remote place is largely set.
We defend the case wherever the military sends it to be tried, and we get involved while the investigation is still happening, because that is when it counts. Military defense is all we do, and we have had cases arise out of Diego Garcia before. A serious matter is investigated by NCIS, or by OSI or Army CID depending on your service, and for sexual assault and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel, not your command. Your detailed defense counsel may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why service members serious about winning bring in their own counsel early.
UCMJ Charges We Defend Out of Diego Garcia
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). On a small, isolated base a report is often treated as established before the investigation is finished, and these cases route to an independent Special Trial Counsel. 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 means a federal record and can mean confinement, 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 career because a service member has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny, Drugs, and Misconduct (UCMJ Articles 121, 112a, and 134). Isolation and long tours wear on people, and the cases that come off Diego Garcia run from property and accountability disputes to alcohol fueled incidents on the installation to a positive urinalysis. Property cases turn on the intent the government has to prove rather than assume, and drug cases turn on the chain of custody and the government's burden to prove any use was knowing and wrongful. None of it is a foregone conclusion, and what is collected on the island will follow the case wherever it is tried.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
Not every service member who calls us about a Diego Garcia case is innocent, and we do not pretend otherwise. 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 can carry confinement, a punitive discharge and, for a covered sex offense, registration under the applicable federal and state law. Where the current sentencing parameters apply in a general court martial, the confinement ranges are two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape. A departure requires specific facts and a written explanation. The offense dates and the court's jurisdiction determine which sentencing rules apply. That is why you fight.
If you are facing an investigation at Diego Garcia, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will tell you exactly what you are facing, where your case is likely to be tried, and how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
FAQ
If I'm investigated at Diego Garcia, where would my court martial actually be held?
The location depends on the referral, command arrangements, and available facilities. A serious case may be tried elsewhere in the theater or in the States. That is why the investigation on the island matters so much: it builds the record that will follow the case wherever it is tried, and getting counsel involved while that record is being made is the most valuable thing you can do.
NCIS or OSI wants to interview me at Diego Garcia. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for an 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. They are collecting evidence, not giving you a chance to explain, and on a remote base that statement can become the center of a case tried thousands of miles away. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
My case started at Diego Garcia. Can the firm actually help, if the trial is held somewhere else?
Yes. Military defense is all we do, we have had cases arise out of Diego Garcia, and we defend them wherever the military sends them to be tried. The work starts with the investigation on the island, which is where the case is really shaped, and follows it to whatever courtroom it lands in.