USAG-Kwajalein Atoll: A Tiny Army Community at the Edge of the Map
In the Marshall Islands, far out in the Central Pacific, U.S. Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll is home to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, the range where the nation tests the missiles and the missile defenses that protect it. It is one of the most remote American installations anywhere, a small community of just over a thousand military members, Army civilians, contractors, and families spread across Kwajalein and Roi-Namur. The garrison is under Installation Management Command, while the Reagan Test Site’s mission belongs to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. The Soldiers here are few and far between, and on an atoll this small and this isolated, a legal problem cannot be kept quiet, and a serious case may be tried elsewhere.
How a case here actually moves is the thing a Soldier needs to understand from the start.
The Marine Who Threw Himself on the Grenade at Roi-Namur
The ground Kwajalein Atoll sits on was taken in some of the hardest fighting of the Pacific, and one of the men who took it was Private Richard K. Sorenson. In the early hours of February 2, 1944, on Namur, part of this same atoll, Sorenson and five other Marines were pinned in a shell hole when a Japanese grenade landed in their midst. Without hesitating, Sorenson threw himself on it and took the full blast to save the men beside him. He was one of only a handful of Marines in the entire war who covered a grenade with their body and lived to tell about it. That instinct to put yourself between the people you serve with and the thing coming for them is the standard we bring to a case out of Kwajalein.
Why a Case Out of Kwajalein Needs the Right Lawyer Early
A case that begins at Kwajalein may be tried elsewhere, depending on the referral, Army command arrangements, and available facilities. The investigation on the island is exactly where these cases are shaped. If the case reaches a courtroom far from the Marshall Islands, the record built out here is largely set.
We defend the case wherever the Army 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 Kwajalein before. A serious matter is investigated by Army CID, 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 Trial Defense Service counsel may be capable but carries a heavy caseload inside the same system, which is why Soldiers serious about winning bring in their own counsel early.
UCMJ Charges We Defend Out of Kwajalein
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). On an atoll this small 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 an Army career because a Soldier 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). The isolation of a tour on Kwajalein wears on people, and the cases that come off the atoll run from property and accountability disputes to alcohol fueled incidents 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 Soldier who calls us about a Kwajalein 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 Trial Defense Service 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 Kwajalein, 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 Kwajalein, where would my court martial actually be held?
The location depends on the referral, Army command arrangements, and available facilities. A serious case may be tried off the island. That is why the investigation out here 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.
CID wants to interview me at Kwajalein. Do I have to talk to them?
No. You are not required to sit for a CID 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. CID is collecting evidence, not giving you a chance to explain, and on a remote atoll that statement can become the center of a case tried far away. Decline, ask for counsel, and call a defense lawyer before you give any statement.
My case started at Kwajalein. 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 Kwajalein, and we defend them wherever the Army sends them to be tried. The work starts with the investigation on the atoll, which is where the case is really shaped, and follows it to whatever courtroom it lands in.