White Beach Naval Facility: Where the Pacific Fight Stages Forward
On the Katsuren peninsula on Okinawa's east coast, White Beach Naval Facility is the port where the Marines and their gear meet the fleet. Its two piers service Seventh Fleet amphibious ships, landing craft and air cushioned vehicles run troops and vehicles out to the ships at the pier or at sea, and it is home to the headquarters of Commander, Amphibious Group One. The people here are Sailors of the port and ship's company and the Marines who embark from it, and their workplace is as much the water and the ships as the land.
That mix is what makes a case at White Beach its own animal. An offense can happen on the pier, aboard a ship, or out at sea, and the question of which command holds the case and under what rules can get complicated fast. Okinawa is where this firm does much of its work. Tim Bilecki served as the Senior Defense Counsel for the Army's Trial Defense Service across the Pacific Rim, responsible for service members throughout Korea, Okinawa, and mainland Japan, and he has spent years trying cases on this island. A case at White Beach goes to counsel who already knows these waters.
The Skipper Who Took the Fight to the Enemy's Doorstep
The Navy's tradition in the Pacific is to carry the fight forward, and no one carried it harder than Commander Richard H. O'Kane of the submarine USS Tang. O'Kane ran the most successful war patrols of any American submarine, hunting on the surface at night and pressing attacks deep into enemy controlled waters where few would go. On Tang's final patrol in October 1944, after tearing through a convoy, the boat fired its last torpedo, which malfunctioned and circled back to strike Tang itself. O'Kane was thrown from the bridge into the sea, survived, and was pulled aboard an enemy ship where he endured brutal captivity until the war's end. He came home to the Medal of Honor. The refusal to ease off when the fight is hardest is the standard we bring to a case at White Beach.
Why Sailors and Marines at White Beach Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Sailors and Marines fly us in from all over the world because military defense is all we do, and our trial record proves it. Years of work on Okinawa mean we know how these cases move on the island, who investigates them, and how the commands operate.
The military justice system is not built to find the truth. It exists to preserve good order and discipline, and a command will make an example of a Sailor to keep the rest of the crew in line. 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 the 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 Sailors and Marines serious about winning bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at White Beach
Whatever you have been accused of under the UCMJ, we defend it. The list below just reflects the charges we see most at White Beach.
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. A distinctive part of our Okinawa work is the NCIS online sting cases, the "To Catch a Predator" operations that have arrested service members across the island. An agent poses online as an adult woman, then later claims to be fourteen or fifteen before steering toward a meeting and an arrest, so the charge is almost always an attempt under Article 80 that the government has to prove with intent. The defenses are a mistake of fact as to age and entrapment. We won the first NCIS sting case ever tried on Okinawa, an outright acquittal, and have defended many more here since. We also examine compliance with Internet Crimes Against Children protocols for weaknesses in the investigation and the agents’ credibility. A protocol violation alone is not a legal defense; its significance depends on the charged offense, the evidence, and the applicable defense.
Unauthorized Absence and Missing Ship's Movement (UCMJ Articles 86 and 87). At an amphibious port the calendar is the ship's, not yours, and missing a ship's movement under Article 87 is treated far more seriously than a simple unauthorized absence because it can leave a billet empty when the ship sails. The government has to prove you knew of the movement and that any absence was without authority, and a missed muster caused by confusion over a changed schedule, a medical issue, or bad information does not by itself establish the design or neglect the charged offense requires.
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, including the off base confrontations that become a host nation matter when an Okinawan local is involved, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny and Drug Offenses (UCMJ Articles 121 and 112a). Property cases here run from gear off a pier or a ship to a government card charge the command calls theft, and the government still has to prove intent rather than assume it. The drug cases that worry the command on Okinawa are less about a stray positive than about synthetic substances and drugs ordered online and brought onto the island, where Japan's strict drug laws raise the stakes. A positive urinalysis is serious but not the end of the fight, because the chain of custody can be challenged, innocent ingestion is a recognized defense, and the government still has to prove any use was knowing and wrongful.
Off Duty Conduct and Host Nation Exposure (UCMJ Articles 134, 87a, and 92). A Sailor is subject to the UCMJ off base, and a night out that goes wrong comes back to the command. The Navy Shore Patrol works the liberty districts and can apprehend a Sailor, so resisting or fleeing it can be charged as resisting apprehension under Article 87a and disobeying its lawful order as a violation of Article 92, while an incident with a Japanese national draws the Japanese police. There is a danger most Sailors do not think about until it lands on them. Under the Status of Forces Agreement, Japanese authorities hold the primary right to prosecute serious off base offenses against Japanese nationals, and their system can hold and interrogate a suspect for up to roughly twenty three days before any charge, often without a lawyer present. A serious off base incident can mean attention from both U.S. military and Japanese authorities, so get counsel involved before you talk to anyone. 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.
A Career and a Reputation Worth Defending
Not every Sailor or Marine who calls us from White Beach is innocent, and we do not pretend otherwise. Some made a mistake and know it. That does not mean accepting the worst the system can hand out. 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.
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 applicable sentencing parameters tie a confinement range to the offense, two and a half to ten years for sexual assault and ten to twenty for rape, that a judge can depart from only by stating specific facts in writing, on top of any required or adjudged punitive discharge and, for a covered sex offense, sex offender registration. That is why you fight. The court’s jurisdiction and the convicted offense determine which sentencing rules apply; some offenses use separate sentencing criteria rather than these ranges.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial connected to White Beach, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We know this island and how these cases move here, and 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
Something happened aboard ship or on the pier at White Beach. Which command handles my case?
Generally the command you are attached to, but at an amphibious port that is not always simple. An offense aboard a ship usually runs through that ship's command, while one ashore runs through the shore command, and where the conduct happened can affect the convening authority and how the case is built. Those jurisdictional seams are easy to get wrong and worth having counsel sort out early, because the answer shapes who decides and tries your case.
NCIS wants to interview me. 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.
Why hire Bilecki Law Group for an Okinawa case instead of a local attorney?
We win court martial cases, and Okinawa is where we do much of our work. Military defense is all we do, Tim Bilecki has tried cases on this island for years, and the firm has defended Sailors and Marines across Okinawa for years. That is experience on this exact ground, not an attorney flying in cold.