The Army Layer 2025 Issue 1

Court Is Assembled: Mastering Multinational Integration with a Winning Mindset

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 18:51:00 GMT

The Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps mission statement requires Judge Advocate Legal Services (JALS) personnel to operate “in support of a ready, globally responsive, and regionally engaged Army.”

News & Notes 2025 Issue 1

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:19:43 GMT

News & Notes 2025 Issue 1

Pivotal Perspective: What Army Commanders Need from Their Legal Advisors

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:18:00 GMT

The second half of my thirty-nine-year military career was divided between, on one hand, serving as the legal advisor to colonel-, brigadier general-, and major general-level commanders and, on the other, consuming legal advice as a brigadier general- and major general-level commander.

What’s It Like? Robo Gen from a Legal Exchange Officer in the United Kingdom

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:17:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps has more than 9,700 active duty, Reserve, National Guard, and civilian attorneys, legal administrators, and paralegals.

Book Review: Rebirth into New Domains A Review of Phoenix Rising: From the Ashes of Desert One to the Rebirth of U.S. Special Operations

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:15:00 GMT

Keith Nightingale’s Phoenix Rising is a compelling account of the planning, training, and execution of Operation Eagle Claw. As the deputy operations officer of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Nightingale provides a first-hand account of the operation through personal journal entries.

Lore of the Corps: In Memoriam

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:14:00 GMT

The following members of our Regiment, in alphabetical order, passed away in 2024.

Lore of the Corps: Coming Full Circle

Fri, 30 May 2025 18:05:02 GMT

On a sunny May afternoon in 1960, Governor Bert T. Combs stood on the grounds of Fort Knox, dedicating a new grave marker for Abraham Lincoln’s grandmother, Bathsheba Lincoln.

Practice Notes: A Waterproof Guide to the Law of the Sea and the Law of Naval Operations

Fri, 30 May 2025 14:22:00 GMT

The U.S. Army’s primary mission is to “organize, train, and equip its forces to conduct . . . land combat.”¹ However, no military Service can ignore the “interconnectedness of sea and land.”² A majority of people on earth live on land masses near or surrounded by water.³ Further, recent incidents involving cutting undersea cables, which impact communications on land, and ground-based attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea highlight the domain overlap.⁴

Practice Notes: Where Have All the Sergeant Cullins Gone?

Fri, 30 May 2025 14:10:00 GMT

In 1944, shortly after the successful invasion of Western Europe, the Army had a capability gap that threatened to slow the advance of forces deeper into Europe and potentially weaken the D-Day momentum enjoyed by Allied forces.¹ Our Army could not rapidly transit tanks through hedgerows, pervasive throughout Eastern France, without either canalizing forces to road networks or exposing the vulnerable tank underbelly to enemy forces.²

Practice Notes: Bicycling While Intoxicated Overseas

Fri, 30 May 2025 14:09:00 GMT

Captain (CPT) Doe, an Army officer stationed in Germany, meets his friends one day after work and drinks several beers before returning home on his bicycle. Someone informed him that the German legal limit of intoxication while operating a bicycle is much higher than that for automobiles, and he believes he is well under this limit.¹ The U.S. military police stop him at a random sobriety checkpoint and measure his blood alcohol level, which is .10 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. This is over the American military limit for drunk driving under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Still, CPT Doe thinks nothing of the incident because he was operating a bicycle.

Feature: Countering Space-Based Weapons of Mass Destruction

Fri, 30 May 2025 14:05:00 GMT

How should the United States respond if another country attempts to station a nuclear weapon in outer space? Although the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (OST) forbids stationing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in outer space, prohibition does not guarantee prevention.¹ Certain powerful states, possessing significant space and nuclear capabilities, habitually violate international law and have tested capabilities that probe the OST’s boundaries.

Closing Argument: Global Lawyering for a Global Fight

Thu, 29 May 2025 18:35:00 GMT

The wisdom in the statement attributed to Sun Tzu that “every battle is won before it is ever fought”¹ aptly applies to the modern conflict continuum. In the article Legal Considerations Before and During LSCOs,² the Office of Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed how military lawyers should prepare to provide legal advice during large-scale combat operations (LSCOs). Specifically, we examined the expectations placed on operational attorneys in LSCOs and how to prepare for the challenges we might face.