JEB Little Creek-Fort Story: The East Coast Home of Naval Special Warfare
On the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story is the East Coast home of Naval Special Warfare, the base for the Atlantic SEAL Teams and Naval Special Warfare Group Two, the SEAL Delivery Vehicle team, and the Navy's expeditionary forces, the explosive ordnance disposal units, the mobile diving and salvage units, and the beach group. Fort Story, out at Cape Henry where the bay meets the Atlantic, supports the Army's amphibious and transportation units and stands under the old and new Cape Henry lighthouses. This is a clearance-heavy community of operators and support Sailors, and a command of this caliber moves hard and fast against one of its own.
Military defense is all Bilecki Law Group does, and Sailors fly us in from our office in Tampa because a contested court martial is decided by trial experience, and we bring it wherever the case is.
The SEAL Who Brought Them Out of Enemy Territory
The standard for a Little Creek operator was set by Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, a Navy SEAL in Quang Tri Province in April 1972. Over several nights Norris led tiny patrols deep behind enemy lines to recover two downed airmen, on the final night moving by sampan disguised as a local fisherman and calling in airstrikes to cover the extraction. He went into enemy territory again and again to bring other men home. That refusal to leave anyone behind is the standard we bring to a case at Little Creek.
Why Sailors at Little Creek Bring Us In
We win court martial cases. Military defense is all we do, and Sailors 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 special warfare command will make an example of an operator or a Sailor to protect its reputation. An allegation here threatens not just the criminal case but your standing on the Team and the access your career runs on, often long before any verdict. 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 JEB Little Creek-Fort Story
These are the most common cases at Little Creek. They are examples, not limits, and we defend service members against the full range of UCMJ offenses.
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 tight community where word of an allegation travels 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 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 Navy career because a Sailor has to be able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128, the usual charge when a night out at the Oceanfront ends in a fight, where self defense is a recognized defense.
Larceny and Government Property (UCMJ Articles 121 and 108). A special warfare and expeditionary base is issued and signs for a great deal of weapons, gear, and sensitive equipment, and accountability is taken seriously. The government treats missing gear, an item that cannot be reconciled, or property that walked off as larceny under Article 121 or wrongful disposition of military property under Article 108, but a shortage on an inventory is not the same as theft, and the government still has to prove the state of mind required by the charged offense: intent for larceny or fraud, or negligence where Article 108 permits it, not just that something cannot be found.
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 an incident off base comes back to the command, and a positive urinalysis is one of the most common ways a career, and a place on the Team, comes apart. 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 Sailor who calls us from Little Creek 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 place on the Team, 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, on 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 at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story, 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 Little Creek. 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.
I'm a SEAL or NSW support Sailor. What does an investigation do to my place on the Team?
An allegation can cost you your operational status and your standing in the command long before any verdict, on a much lower standard than a conviction, and that career consequence runs parallel to the criminal case. The way to protect your place on the Team is to win the underlying allegation, because that is what is driving the command action, so get your own counsel involved before you give a statement to NCIS.
I'm under an Article 120 investigation. Will I have to register as a sex offender if I'm convicted?
A court martial conviction for a covered Article 120 offense triggers registration duties under the applicable federal and state law, with requirements and duration determined by the covered conviction and jurisdiction. The entire defense is aimed at defeating the charge or reducing it to an offense that carries no registration, and the investigation and the charging decision are where these cases are most often turned. Get your own counsel involved before you ever sit down with NCIS.