NSA Gaeta: Homeport of the Sixth Fleet Flagship
On the Gulf of Gaeta on Italy's Lazio coast, about sixty miles up the shore from Naples, Naval Support Activity Gaeta is the homeport of the USS Mount Whitney, the command ship that became the U.S. Sixth Fleet flagship in 2005. It is a small, close Navy community, the Mount Whitney's crew, the fleet staff and support around them, and their families, more of them moving ashore into the seaside town these days, set in a medieval port between Rome and Naples. On a base this small, a serious case cannot be kept quiet, and a command in the spotlight has every reason to be seen handling it firmly.
A serious case far from home is the wrong place to settle for the nearest available lawyer. Court martial defense is the whole of this firm's practice, and the Mediterranean has become a regular part of the work since the move to Tampa. We fly in and try the case, because for a contested charge what matters is the lawyer's record, not the distance to the gate.
The Sergeant Who Would Not Stop Short of the Objective
The Navy put the force ashore at Anzio up this same coast in 1944 and kept it alive through months of shelling, and the breakout was carried by Soldiers like Sergeant Sylvester Antolak. On May 24, near Cisterna, he charged a German machine gun across two hundred yards of open ground with no cover. He was hit and knocked down, his shoulder shattered, and he got up and kept going, took the gun and its crew, then refused aid and pressed on to knock out two more positions before he was killed leading the assault forward. He would not stop short of the objective. That refusal to quit short of the goal is the standard we bring to a case at Gaeta.
Why Sailors at Gaeta Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Sailors fly us in from all over the world 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 flagship command will make an example of a Sailor to show the fleet it holds the standard. 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 counsel from the Defense Service Office may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Sailors serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at NSA Gaeta
Below are the most common charges at NSA Gaeta. Treat them as a starting point, not a complete list, of the UCMJ cases we defend.
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 in a small flagship community where a case draws attention fast. 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 confinement, a federal record, and a place on a sex offender registry.
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 Navy career because a Sailor has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny and Allowance Fraud (UCMJ Articles 121, 124, and 107). With Sailors moving off the ship and into housing in town, the overseas housing allowance that pays for it becomes a target. A lease the government decides was inflated, a side arrangement with an Italian landlord, a dependent or address it claims was misreported, and a routine entitlement turns into larceny stacked with a fraud and false official statement allegation. These cases are built from paperwork, but a disputed allowance is not theft, and a lease, an approval, or a rule can look one way to the government and very different once the rest of the record is on the table.
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. A Sailor is subject to the UCMJ off duty, so a night out in Gaeta, a weekend up to Rome, or an incident off base that goes wrong comes back to the command. A serious off base matter in Italy can also be taken up by the Italian carabinieri and prosecuted in an Italian court, on a separate track from your command, so get counsel involved before you talk to anyone.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
We do not pretend that every Sailor who calls us 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, plus 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 Gaeta, 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.
FAQ
NCIS wants to interview me at Gaeta. 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. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
I work the fleet staff in a cleared job and I'm under investigation. Can it cost me my clearance even if I beat the charge?
Yes, because your access and the court martial run on separate tracks with separate standards. A command or security manager who learns of a serious allegation can suspend your access before anything is proven, and revoking a clearance is a separate administrative decision that we do not handle. But that process runs on what the criminal investigation finds, so the most important thing you can do to protect your access is to fight the underlying allegation hard from the start, which is what we do.
Something happened off base in Italy. Could the Italian authorities get involved too?
They can. Under the agreement that governs U.S. forces here, the Italian authorities can claim jurisdiction over off base conduct, so a serious matter can be investigated by the carabinieri and prosecuted in an Italian court on a separate track from the UCMJ case your command is pursuing. Investigations in the two systems may overlap, and what you say to one can affect the other, so do not give a statement to anyone until you have talked to a defense lawyer. The SOFA allocates primary jurisdiction and limits a second trial for the same offense; overlapping investigations do not mean that both countries may freely try the same charge.