Blog

News & Notes: Welcome to Fort Moore

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:09:58 GMT

In August of 2022, the Naming Commission identified nine installations, including what was once Fort Benning, Georgia, for redesignation. Through the redesignation process, Congress sought to remove commemorations of a Confederate past; but, redesignation also provided a unique opportunity to honor individuals that all Americans could look to for inspiration.

News & Notes 2023 Issue 3

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:07:27 GMT

News & Notes 2023 Issue 3

Pivotal Perspective: The Summer of Hard Knox

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:05:58 GMT

One summer, four law students from different backgrounds, experiences, and schools worked as interns in legal offices at Fort Knox, Kentucky. This piece is a collection of their stories and experiences working with the U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox (USACC), Trial Defense Services (TDS), and U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) Offices of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJAs).

What’s It Like? Changing Places

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:04:17 GMT

The U.S. Army engages in numerous exchanges with allied partner countries to maximize alliances and partnerships by building capacity and strengthening relationships in support of global strategies. On an operational level, exchanges are meant to increase cooperation by integrating U.S. and partner-nation military personnel across various positions at the unit level.

Book Review: The United States Army and the Making of America

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:57:38 GMT

The United States Army and the Making of America: From Confederation to Empire, 1775-1903 is an important book and a model of scholarship. Every judge advocate, legal administrator, and paralegal specialist should read it for its unique and comprehensive synthesis of how civil-military relations, internal Army politics, and various Army wars played a critical role in the creation of the United States prior to the twentieth century.

Book Review: The Wager

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:56:37 GMT

Even though judge advocates (JAs) are not mentioned until the last twenty pages of the book, author David Grann’s most recent novel, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (The Wager), is not without lessons for those attorneys willing to dive into its pages.

Azimuth Check: Building a Culture of Dignity and Respect

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:55:39 GMT

Dignity and respect are key elements of a healthy, productive organization that senior leaders must prioritize in an organization as we communicate vision and purpose.¹ However, high optempo, stress, circumstances, and emotions can sometimes complicate relationships. This article offers some points to consider and use to increase dignity and respect in the installation-level workplace and beyond.

Lore of the Corps: A Judge Advocate in World War I

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:53:00 GMT

The roughly 425 lawyers who were Army judge advocates (JAs) during World War I served in the United States and overseas in England, France, Italy, and Russia. One of those lawyers was James A. Gallogly, a West Point graduate who transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Department (JAGD) after earning his law degree.

Practice Notes: Punitive Versus Protective Debarment Regimes

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:50:03 GMT

Many governments use an administrative process, commonly known as “debarment” to mark problematic contractors as ineligible for future public contracts.¹ While many acquisition professionals view the United States’ administrative—or discretionary—debarment system as a punitive process, it is, in fact, a protective one.² However, the current U.S. administration has recently issued a robust whole-of-government strategy on countering corruption, which has increased the Government’s focus on anti-corruption enforcement.³

Feature No. 1: In the Hope for Peace

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:48:00 GMT

The United States of America has been committed to the right conduct of war and has paved the way for nations to establish clear rules during conflict. Lofty goals of peace and justice have laid the groundwork for real-world tactics and operations: in his farewell address, President George Washington called on his fellow citizens to strengthen their unity through peace.¹ In 1963, President John F. Kennedy exhorted the graduates of American University that as we “safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests.”²

Feature No. 2: The Tree of Battles

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:46:00 GMT

To appreciate the importance of the principles of the law of armed conflict (LOAC), judge advocates (JAs) must consider their historical endurance. The law of armed conflict has long roots, some buried so deep they have been largely forgotten. Yet these lesser-known precursors also played a crucial role in LOAC development. One forgotten pioneer hailed from a fourteenth-century French monastery, where he struggled to promote the LOAC principles of honor, humanity, and distinction.

Closing Argument: The Courage to Grow through Mistakes, Failures, and Setbacks

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:34:53 GMT

Common experience tells us that most people endure challenges and failures. With each challenge and failure, we have the opportunity to decide how that experience will shape us. Within this general context, we consider how to hone our ability to face challenges and how we can develop resilience that helps us endure and grow despite the ever-present risk of failure.