CommunityEditor
07-14-2008, 09:31 PM
The top judge advocates general of the Army, Navy and Air Force each are on tap to receive a third star, elevating the top legal officers’ seniority and clout within their services and at the Pentagon.
Ending a five-year legislative battle led by retired senior JAGs, President Bush nominated Navy judge advocate general Rear Adm. Bruce MacDonald on July 2 to become a three-star. Air Force judge advocate general Maj. Gen. Jack Rives got the nod for lieutenant general July 3. Army judge advocate general Maj. Gen. Scott Black will be nominated soon for his third star, according to a retired senior JAG officer.
Their promotions must be confirmed by the Senate.
The 2008 Defense Authorization Act requires the top JAGs to move up. JAGs and their allies on Capitol Hill — such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., himself an Air Force Reserve JAG — have pushed for the measure as a way to put the top JAGs on equal footing with the Pentagon’s civilian, politically appointed lawyers.
“There’s a long history of efforts by political appointees to kind of own the uniformed lawyers, which I think is not going to happen” anymore, said retired Maj. Gen. John Fugh, who led the Army JAG Corps during the 1990s and had heated disputes with civilian lawyers.
The effort grew out of conflict during the 1990s over attempts by then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and his staff to subordinate the JAGs to the Pentagon and services’ general counsels.
That conflict increased in intensity during President Bush’s first term. Bush’s political appointees sought to exert even greater control over JAGs, and the debate came to a head when the JAGs were effectively sidelined during the debate about torture surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison case. The JAGs strongly opposed the administration’s approval of interrogation techniques that could be considered torture.
“During Abu Ghraib and the torture [debate], the uniform lawyers got pushed aside,” Fugh said. “It was the political appointees, the general counsel, who pretty much ran the show. A lot of things that happened, the military lawyers were either not consulted or ignored altogether.”
The three-star provision was included in the Senate versions of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 defense authorization bills, but it did not make it into the final bill and become law until this year.
Elevating the JAGs to three-star stature — an equivalent rank to the Pentagon and service general counsels — will give the JAGs the seniority to provide service leaders the unvarnished legal advice they need, Fugh said.
“The military lawyers must have their independence in giving legal advice not only to the chiefs of staff of the services but also to the secretaries,” he said. “That’s what was missing. ... I think this will be a big step forward.”
Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/airforce_jag_071308/
Ending a five-year legislative battle led by retired senior JAGs, President Bush nominated Navy judge advocate general Rear Adm. Bruce MacDonald on July 2 to become a three-star. Air Force judge advocate general Maj. Gen. Jack Rives got the nod for lieutenant general July 3. Army judge advocate general Maj. Gen. Scott Black will be nominated soon for his third star, according to a retired senior JAG officer.
Their promotions must be confirmed by the Senate.
The 2008 Defense Authorization Act requires the top JAGs to move up. JAGs and their allies on Capitol Hill — such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., himself an Air Force Reserve JAG — have pushed for the measure as a way to put the top JAGs on equal footing with the Pentagon’s civilian, politically appointed lawyers.
“There’s a long history of efforts by political appointees to kind of own the uniformed lawyers, which I think is not going to happen” anymore, said retired Maj. Gen. John Fugh, who led the Army JAG Corps during the 1990s and had heated disputes with civilian lawyers.
The effort grew out of conflict during the 1990s over attempts by then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and his staff to subordinate the JAGs to the Pentagon and services’ general counsels.
That conflict increased in intensity during President Bush’s first term. Bush’s political appointees sought to exert even greater control over JAGs, and the debate came to a head when the JAGs were effectively sidelined during the debate about torture surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison case. The JAGs strongly opposed the administration’s approval of interrogation techniques that could be considered torture.
“During Abu Ghraib and the torture [debate], the uniform lawyers got pushed aside,” Fugh said. “It was the political appointees, the general counsel, who pretty much ran the show. A lot of things that happened, the military lawyers were either not consulted or ignored altogether.”
The three-star provision was included in the Senate versions of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 defense authorization bills, but it did not make it into the final bill and become law until this year.
Elevating the JAGs to three-star stature — an equivalent rank to the Pentagon and service general counsels — will give the JAGs the seniority to provide service leaders the unvarnished legal advice they need, Fugh said.
“The military lawyers must have their independence in giving legal advice not only to the chiefs of staff of the services but also to the secretaries,” he said. “That’s what was missing. ... I think this will be a big step forward.”
Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/airforce_jag_071308/