M I L I T A R Y L E G A L O F F I C E O R G A N I Z A T I O N A N D M A N A G E M E N T

MILITARY JUSTICEJAY CANHAM

MAJOR AREAS OF LEGAL SERVICES

• Military Justice • Legal Assistance • Command Support • Administrative Law

MILITARY JUSTICE

• Liaison with state and federal courts/Law enforcement agencies;• Provide advice and investigative services for a

Justice System;• Assist with running of NJP’s/Summary Courts• Review court-martial records

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

• Family Law Issues: Wills, Divorces, Land-Lord Tenant, Debt• Command Support: Areas of Operational Law,

Contract Law, Environmental Law• Administrative Law: Command Administrative

needs when dealing with Summary Courts & Administrative Separations & Claims

LEGAL TRAINING OF SERVICE MEMBERS

Commandant’s White Letter #02-07 The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Conway, talked about the challenge of retaining the moral “high-ground” while fighting a counterinsurgency. In defining the “Warrior Ethos”, General Conway explained: “…counterinsurgencies, by their very nature, often blur the lines between friend and foe, but our values remain constant. Our enemy – who is not bound by proportionality and kills without conscience – does not change who we are or what we believe in.”

INITIAL ENTRY TRAINING

• Transforms civilians into military members: • Will succeed on the battlefield, in garrison, and in society.

• Instills high standards of:• Discipline, personal conduct, morality, and professional

skill.

• Legal training provides a framework:• For the proper conduct during a career.

BEGINNING OF CAREER LEGAL TRAINING

Initial Enlisted Training: • Begins at Boot-Camp• Focus on military law, the Law of Armed Conflict

and specific “legal hot topics” such as sexual harassment or the illegal use of drugs.

• Officer’s legal training is more extensive than that of an enlisted person and considered career essential.

CAREER LEGAL INSTRUCTION

• Annual Training Requirements: Officers and enlisted personal are required to participate in Annual legal training. • Senior Leader Training: Taught to newly

assigned Commanding Officers and to recently promoted general/flag officers.

Training reinforces the role of law, the importance of the leader’s part in the military justice system and the critical role played by Lawyer Advisors assigned to their staffs.

LEGAL TRAINING ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE

• Substance abuse and Fraternization: • Needed to maintain discipline

• Equal Employment Opportunity: • Trying to achieve the equality with diversity!

• Sexual Harassment Training:• Last 30 years vast increase in women in the services.

LEGAL TRAINING ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE

• Hazing: • Massive problem with infantry.

• The Law of Armed Conflict:• As needed….look to the job specialty.

PRE–DEPLOYMENT LEGAL TRAINING

• Financial Planning & Powers of Attorney. • Property Management, Loan and Debt

financing, and Credit Card matters. • Wills: Execution of Wills provides assurance to

service members that loved ones are provided for… • Deployed Benefits. • Tax advice: Extensions & Exemptions• Civil suits: The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief

Act

MISSION SPECIFIC TRAINING

• Rules of Engagement: Contact with the Enemy!• Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA): Legal

issues when dealing with a host nation to include Damage claims, Criminal Jurisdiction, Taxes/Customs

• Law of War: Targeting/Treatment of Non-combatants/Code of Conduct

TRAINING & USE OF ATTORNEYS

• Army, Navy, and Air Force: Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGs)• Staff Officers: This "Corps" is essentially a

separate command consisting of personnel assigned to perform purely legal functions.

TRAINING & USE OF ATTORNEYS

Marine Corps:• Line Officers…officers first, and lawyers

second. • Trained in basic infantry tactics • Will spend one or more tours serving in non-

legal billets • Sent to "The Basic School"

TRAINING & USE OF ATTORNEYS

U.S. Coast Guard: • Rotates its legal officers between judge

advocate billets and line officer billets.

MILITARY JUSTICE SCHOOLS

Three justice schools train new Judge Advocates, 12 weeks, in military law: • 1) The Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard receive

their training at the Naval Justice School in Newport, R.I. • 2) The Army trains its judge advocates at the

Army's Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, VA. • 3) The Air Force sends its judge advocates to

the Air Force Judge Advocate School at Maxwell Air Base, AL.

ENLISTED SERVICE MEMBERS IN THE LEGAL FIELD

Typically serve as:• Unit legal clerks;• Legal assistants;• Paralegals;• Court reporters within the Judge Advocate

community.

CONCLUSION

In the era of the “3-block, decentralized war”, COs must ensure service members are given responsibility, challenged to demonstrate moral and physical courage, and held accountable for their actions. Troops must understand the impact of ethical conduct on the battlefield. This is of the utmost importance since never before has the battlefield been so.