Just as a botanist should know that a tomato is a fruit, so too, must a lawyer know the law.  But once we master the knowledge of the law, we must know how to use it and employ it. We must be both a botanist and a chef. Premier lawyering and “right context” advice requires both knowledge and wisdom.  The application of law in life, with its impact on human beings and military organizations, requires a judge advocate who is a subject matter expert in black letter law as well as a wise counselor for the commanders we advise. Our unique practice of law requires a wisdom that understands military discipline and where it intersects with the application of military justice. Nowhere is that more true than in courts-martial in combat.

In thinking about what to say to you today, that had some real meaning as you head out from the Legal Center and School to destinations far and wide, I discussed my comments with our Assistant Executive Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Toby Curto—a fairly recent graduate from the School and the Course—and I put the question to him: looking back, what did you want to hear?

On 24 October 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) signed the Military Justice Act of 1968 into law. The legislation was the culmination of efforts to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that had been underway almost as soon as the code was enacted in 1950. Now, with the reforms ushered in by President Johnson’s signature, courts-martial were about to experience a second revolution in less than twenty years.

You know it, and I know it: The work commute is a look in the mirror that we try to avoid. Yet, we end up listening to podcasts, sports radio, or digital tunes during the commute and rationalize that it is not that bad, attempting to justify our housing location choice. Service members and government Civilian employees know all too well the problems with military installation housing.

When The Judge Advocate General(TJAG) of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC) encourages you to write²—and says it more than once or twice—we should all be thinking about how to get on board with that directive. If you are still struggling with identifying a gerund,³ if you find yourself using your pen to tap out morse code SOS signals on your blank pad of paper when embarking on writing, and if you view writing and publishing articles for “those other people,” then this article is for you.

You have had a varied career, including your last assignment at Army Cyber Command. As the Army places an ever-growing emphasis on the role of cyber-and therefore cyber law—what do you think the future holds for cyber law and the Judge Advocate General Corps?

On 23 December 2016, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which included numerous military justice changes contained in the Military Justice Act of 2016 (MJA16). On 1 March 2018, the President signed Executive Order 13825 prescribing implementing regulations, to include establishing the MJA16 effective date as 1 January 2019. Intended to strengthen the structure of the military justice system, the MJA16 represents the most significant changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) since the UCMJ was first enacted in 1950.

Over the past several years, U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) judge advocates and paralegals have participated in exercises that tested the ability of combatant commands and service component commands to respond to crisis scenarios in the U.S. European Command Area of Responsibility (EUCOM AOR). These exercises have been illuminating in many respects, but particularly demonstrative of how a counter terrorism (CT) mindset continues to dominate many aspects of relevant U.S. policies and practices and the outlook of many commanders, staff, and legal advisors charged with planning and executing operations.

In today’s combat environment, it is rare that a fellow military member would wonder about the need for a lawyer supporting a combat mission. Our intent is to show how, during a single twenty-four-hour period, military lawyers have become integral with modern combat deployments.

Does the military need lawyers in Vietnam? Repeatedly asked this question by their fellow lawyers in the United States, the authors, who comprise the legal staff of an Army headquarters in Vietnam, determined to let American lawyers decide for themselves. The authors selected in advance a day on which each would keep notes on his activities. This article, which first appeared more than 50 years ago in the American Bar Association Journal, is a description of that day—March 11, 1968.