Blog

9/11 Remembrance: September 11th, 2001 Remembrance at TJAGLCS

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:03:00 GMT

On 10 September 2021, The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) held a joint and allied remembrance marking the twenty years since al-Qaeda’s attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. After introductory remarks from TJAGLCS Commanding General Brigadier General Alison Martin and Regimental Historian Mr. Fred Borch, representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, along with their counterparts from the United Kingdom and Germany, talked briefly about how their respective services and countries responded in the days, weeks, and months after the terrorist attack.

Court is Assembled: Foundations of Multinational Legal Interoperability

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:03:00 GMT

In a world of constant competition and rapid change, the United States stands with its allies and partners across the globe on defense matters of all varieties. This steadfast commitment to our shared security and prosperity provides a critical strategic advantage over the oppressive authoritarian regimes of our most problematic strategic competitors.

News & Notes

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:02:00 GMT

News & Notes 2021 Issue 5

“Book” Review: Top Ten Military Justice Movies

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:01:00 GMT

When I deployed to Afghanistan in October 2020, Department of Defense policy required fourteen days of Restriction of Movement (ROM) before most overseas travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For me, that meant two weeks in a hotel room. Realizing I would need a hobby to pass the time in ROM, I decided to watch every military justice movie I could find. This article lists my ranking of the top ten military justice movies, which I define as films featuring a court-martial or military tribunal as central to the plot.

Lore of the Corps: Lieutenant Colonel Nancy A. Hunter’s Career of “Firsts”

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:00:00 GMT

In 1967, Navy Lieutenant Nancy A. Hunter transferred from the Navy Supply Corps to the Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. This alone was a “first” in history, in that no female naval officer had ever entered our Corps through an inter-service transfer. But more “firsts” were to follow in Nancy Hunter’s career as an Army lawyer.

Azimuth Check: Leading Lawyers and Advising Senior Leaders During Crisis

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:00:00 GMT

The time since February 2020 has been full of major surprises on the domestic operations front. After responding to the global pandemic last spring, the National Security Law Division (NSLD) spearheaded the Office of The Judge Advocate General’s (OTJAG) legal support to the Army for nation-wide civil disturbance operations (CDO) beginning in late May 2020 and continuing into the fall.

Practice Notes: Civilian Casualties

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:59:00 GMT

Prevention of, and response to, civilian casualties during an armed conflict has garnered significant attention in the past several years. This has ranged from negative public opinion surrounding civilian casualties caused during U.S. military operations, to academic discussion of the law surrounding protection of civilians—including whether, and how, Department of Defense (DoD) efforts fall short.

Practice Notes: “Thus Always to Tyrants!”

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:59:00 GMT

We will not tolerate actions that go against the fundamental principles of the oath we share, including actions associated with extremist or dissident ideologies. Service members, DoD civilian employees, and all those who support our mission, deserve an environment free of discrimination, hate, and harassment. It is incumbent upon each of us to ensure that actions associated with these corrosive behaviors are prevented. Commanders, supervisors, and all those who hold a leadership position within the Department have a special responsibility to guard against these behaviors and set the example for those they lead.

Practice Notes: Mitigating the Risk of Future Climate Change

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:57:00 GMT

In Juliana v. United States, a group of plaintiffs sued the U.S. Government and several of its agencies—specifically including the Department of Defense (DoD)—asserting that it has continued to “permit, authorize, and subsidize” activities that produce greenhouse gases and cause climate change.

Practice Notes: Legal Operations

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:56:00 GMT

The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is to safeguard the freedom and security of its Alliance members by political and military means. In the military domain, the Alliance accomplishes this purpose by maintaining and developing its individual and collective ability to deter and resist armed attack, by consulting together whenever the security of one of the Alliance nations is threatened, and by defending Alliance territory and population from armed attack, as set out in Articles 3, 4, and 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

No. 1: Confronting Russian Cyber Proxies

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:55:00 GMT

Over the last two decades, Russia’s use of cyber proxies has expanded on a global scale and impacted nearly all aspects of international relations. From effectively shutting down a neighboring government and its financial sector in response to moving a World War II era statue, to disrupting communication platforms in Eastern Europe in concert with kinetic operations, to gaining access to American critical infrastructure,4 Russia is actively pursuing its strategic objectives through cyber proxies.

Practice Notes: Empower Yourself, Empower Your Team

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:55:00 GMT

Every new Army recruit is also an investor. In fact, they invest in government securities, bonds, international corporations, and virtually every company in the entire U.S. stock market. Now that the blended retirement system (BRS) is the retirement plan for all new recruits and many mid-career Service members, Soldiers are automatically enrolled and have money invested monthly into the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

No. 3: Crossing Borders in Cyberspace

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:54:00 GMT

In the early weeks of October 2020, sprawling across 100 countries, an enhanced form of cyber weapon called a botnet began positioning itself to influence the U.S. Presidential election. Nicknamed Trickbot, the weapon was a for-rent botnet that had surreptitiously implanted malicious software into nearly 250 million systems across the globe, massing computing power through hundreds of millions of “zombie” computers.

No. 2: Atrocities, Abuses, and Adjudication

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:54:00 GMT

In common with many historians, my parents wanted me to go to law school. But I disappointed them in this respect and, to the dismay of my Quaker mother, I became not only a historian—but a military historian. This article is a personal overview of my encounters with Army military justice over four decades in conjunction with my research on other topics.

Closing Argument: Allied Relationships Should Start with Humility and Commitment

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:49:00 GMT

Governments create alliances and partnerships, but people create the relationships that make those alliances and partnerships effective. Defender Europe 2021 was an exercise that involved twenty-six militaries operating in twelve countries, airport operations in sixteen countries, and port operations in five countries.