On 9 October 1990, the Black Jack Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield. In the Persian Gulf War, the 2d Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division was once again called to serve at the tip of the Army spear. Then-CPT Risch stands on the road to Kuwait on the eve of war. (Photo courtesy of author)
By Lieutenant General Stuart W. Risch
In his book, The Killer Angels,1
author
Michael Shaara describesthe critical decision of Union General John Buford, Jr., to take and hold the high ground on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Upon surveying the terrain around the small town of Gettysburg as he entered with the lead elements of his troops, General Buford immediately recognized the high ground’s location and tactical importance. His small cavalry force faced a numerically superior Confederate army. However, he quickly arrayed his troops in defensive positions to deny, or at least delay, the enemy’s advance—initially northwest of the town, on the higher ground of Seminary Ridge. Thereafter, as the initial fighting progressed, his forces occupied the high ground south of town, primarily consisting of four hills— Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Hill, Little Round Top, and Round Top—all connected by a long, crescent-shaped ridge called Cemetery Ridge. This high ground provided Buford’s forces several advantages: a good view of the entire battlefield, an excellent location to emplace artillery, and large and clear fields of fire for entrenched and defending infantry. In particular, the jagged rocks on Little Round Top afforded excellent cover and extended fields of fire.2 It is fair to say, and many historians agree,3 that General Buford’s foresight to continually secure the high ground as the initial battle unfolded around Gettysburg directly contributed to the Union victory, which very likely turned the tide of the Civil War.
I have long been fascinated by Shaara’s account of Buford’s leadership and his decision to occupy the high ground and have his cavalry forces fight dismounted. I particularly enjoy how he provides the reader with Buford’s internal dialogue as he contemplates and then executes the significant decisions of wartime command. In my own moments of trials and critical decision points, I find myself frequently reflecting on Buford’s pivotal decisions on those fateful days at Gettysburg—listening to my own internal dialogue and determining how we, individually as legal professionals and collectively as a Corps, can (and must) timely occupy the “high ground.” Of course, our decisions are not whether to physically occupy key terrain, but they are no less significant. As legal professionals and Service members, we are very frequently faced with certain questions and/or difficulties that have wide-ranging consequences. My edict to our Corps, in every one of these decisions, and beyond, is to at all times resolutely seek to scale atop the ethical, moral, and legal high ground. Much like Buford found, it will not always be an easy battle, but the high ground places you in the best position from which to engage in battle.
As I consider the ethical and moral high ground, I am continually reminded of the many challenges facing our Corps as we navigate—and provide sound counsel and guidance on—such a wide range of legal issues. Take, for example, the contract and fiscal law discipline. As we all know, determining the proper expenditure of funds is a legally-intensive process, many times occurring in the heat of a contingency, such as the short-notice deployment of forces, or the crisis of a civil disturbance—both of which we have faced numerous times over the past few years alone. This sense of urgency may often result in what feels like pressure on our counsel to simply endorse the request for the use of funds and keep the process moving, or to develop “novel” authority for such use. However, despite this impulse, I am extremely proud of the feedback I receive from the field about how our counsel consistently maintain the legal and ethical high ground as they expertly advise on the proper use of funds. The contract and fiscal law practice is, and always has been, of vital importance to our Army, and I commend those of you who consistently provide principled counsel to the individuals entrusted to properly spend our tax dollars.
Other practice areas that often present legal and ethical challenges involve the attorney-client relationships into which our Trial Defense Service, special victims’ and legal assistance counsel enter countless times every day around the globe. Our teammates in these vital practice areas represent Soldiers of all ranks facing all types of adverse action, assist clients in resolving complex personal legal matters, or advise victims as they navigate what may appear to them to be confusing military justice procedures or administrative processes. These are incredibly demanding roles that require not only diligence, commitment, and competence, but a truly perceptive ethical and moral compass. Our counsel admirably perform these duties in a manner in concert with our values, laws, policies, and regulations. Standing with, and advocating on behalf of, an accused Soldier is no easy task, nor is assisting a sexual assault or domestic violence victim as they tell investigators a difficult fact pattern and/ or confront an accused individual. Furthermore, I am acutely aware that the brunt of these client-service efforts is borne by the more junior members of our team. Yet, time and again, I am impressed by the decisions these dedicated professionals make as they face ethical and moral dilemmas; they consistently advocate in zealous fashion for their clients and are not at all hesitant to speak truth to power on their behalf.
As a final illustration, I reflect on the tremendous work performed daily by our paralegals and paraprofessionals. In most cases they serve on the front line as our first echelon of interaction with Soldier and/or family clients seeking advice and counsel. In this regard, they often must traverse the narrow and sometimes indiscernible line between providing legal advice and what I will term “legal support”—that is, being able to assist a client with an issue, respond to a question, or simply point them in the right direction. Many times, they must identify legal issues, in the absence of an attorney, and bring them to the command’s attention, serving as the “honest broker,” telling the command what it needs to hear vice wants to hear. I witnessed this on countless occasions during my time as a brigade judge advocate, deputy staff judge advocate, and staff judge advocate, where our enlisted or civilian teammates effortlessly recognized where that line was, and navigated the situation perfectly. This is clearly a testament to their training, experience, and professionalism, and I truly appreciate both their clear-eyed understanding of their role, their desire to timely and thoroughly assist our clients, and their impact on our Regiment and Army.
Those of us in the brigade tactical operations center brushed the dust off as best we could, proceeded through the receiving line to shake hands with, and pass along holiday greetings to, the CSM and commander, and then assembled under the shelter—in the middle of the Saudi desert, a few short miles from the Iraqi border and berm, and on the brink of war with Iraq.
To properly recognize, occupy, and hold the high ground means that we who operate in the dual professions of arms and law must master both of our crafts. We must continually seek broad expertise and experience in our core legal competencies—we simply cannot be one-dimensional. Before we advise our clients, we must know the law, policy authorities, and regulations, as well as the pragmatic aspects of decisions and actions. This means we must strive to both receive—and provide—the best education and training: institutional, operational, and individual. Your Corps leadership will ensure that your institutional education and training is the best there is, always incorporating the latest legal developments.4 An example of this is our advocacy training. Over the course of the last decade or more, given the significant efforts of our esteemed schoolhouse, both Trial Counsel and Defense Counsel Assistance Programs, and others, we have made tremendous strides in addressing what some perceived as a proficiency deficit among our counsel: our advocacy skills. In May 2022, we officially opened the Judge Advocate General’s Corps Advocacy Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The intent of the Advocacy Center is simple—to consistently train our counsel to be the best legal advocates across the whole of government. The Advocacy Center and the results it will produce is but one of the many steps up the hill to mastery of our crafts.
To this end, you have likely heard me use the phrase, “I’ll meet you on the high ground.” Admittedly, it’s not an original phrase. Instead, it is one that my brigade commander—when I was a trial counsel advising him in the 2d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (yes, the Blackjack Brigade is the best brigade in the Army) in the early 1990s—similarly used at the end of every speech he gave, letter he wrote, or meeting he held. A personal story that best reflects what he intended when using the phrase, and that has stayed with me for over thirty years, occurred in 1990 as a young Captain Risch stood in a jagged formation in a deployed environment in the dusty desert of Saudi Arabia. It was New Year’s Day, and the commander was intent on holding his annual New Year’s reception, notwithstanding our incredibly hot, bleak, and isolated location. The engineers built a set of rudimentary steps up the side of the one outcropping in the vast wilderness, the command sergeant major (CSM) set up the U.S. and unit flags, and the cooks set out some warm Kool-Aid and stale cookies under a make-shift shelter from the sun.
So, as you go about your professional and personal endeavors, I challenge each of you to seek the high ground and lead your teams to the Cemetery Ridge of whatever challenge or trial that is placed before you.
Those of us in the brigade tactical operations center brushed the dust off as best we could, proceeded through the receiving line to shake hands with, and pass along holiday greetings to, the CSM and commander, and then assembled under the shelter—in the middle of the Saudi desert, a few short miles from the Iraqi border and berm, and on the brink of war with Iraq. For just a moment, we devoured the food and drink—something just a tad different from our steady diet of MREs, and enjoyed the camaraderie, had a few laughs, and toasted the New Year. Yet as the impromptu “reception” began to close, my commander’s face grew serious and his demeanor revealed a grim determination. He then read a few passages from his favorite book—The Killer Angels. I can’t remember precisely what those passages were, but I do remember exactly how they made me feel. And then, when he reminded us of the fighting that was to begin shortly—and that the next time we similarly gathered, many of us might not be present—I can still remember how the hair on the back of my neck rose. If it had not been “real” before that session with him, it got real, fast. He then reminded us of how proud he was to be serving alongside us, and that he had every confidence that we would serve with distinction in the coming days and weeks. And he ended by saying that, no matter what transpired, “I’ll meet you on the high ground!” Standing there as a young officer about to enter into the unknown of a combat environment for the first time, I completely understood that what he meant was the high ground in a metaphoric sense. That it was not only the tactical high ground that we sought in the fighting, but the moral, ethical, and, I believe, spiritual high ground that we desired to attain. That, regardless of our religious or philosophical views or beliefs, our race, ethnicity, or gender, we were bound together as a team and were prepared to enter battle together—knowing that not everyone would make it home—and would endure all of its challenges, hardship, and tragedy together as we resolutely sought the high ground. Simply put, we were ready.
You, too, are ready. You have the tools, knowledge, experience, and moral courage and compass—you know where to go and how to get there. As our Chief of Staff of the Army, General James McConville, continually reminds us, you know how to “do the right things, the right way, for the right reasons.”5 My leadership philosophy is similar, and as straightforward: “Work hard, work smart, and be people of character, and I guarantee you that everything else will work out just fine.” The high ground is where we as a Nation, as an Army, and as a Regiment always want to be. We strive to be that “City on a Hill”—that shining beacon of freedom for the rest of the world to look to.6 Many times, we fall short. We are all far from perfect. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t consistently strive to get back to where we want to, and should, be—always holding ourselves to the highest standards. So, as you go about your professional and personal endeavors, I challenge each of you to seek the high ground and lead your teams to the Cemetery Ridge of whatever challenge or trial that is placed before you. Like General Buford, you must always scout out the high ground as early as you can, occupy it, and then steadfastly defend it against all those who would attempt to dislodge you. Trust me, while the fight may not always be easy, the top of the hill inevitably provides the most advantageous position from which to fight.
And, as always, I’ll meet you on the high ground! TAL
LTG Risch is the 41st Judge Advocate General of The Judge Advocate General’s Corps at the Pentagon.
Notes
1. Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels (1974).
2. Eric J. Wittenberg, “The Devil’s to Pay”: John Buford at Gettysburg 74–147 (2014); Stephen W. Sears, Gettysburg 155–58 (2003); Joel Achenbach, Gettysburg: The Battle and Its Aftermath, Wash. Post (Apr. 29, 2013), https://www.washingtonpost. com/national/health-science/gettysburg-the-battleand-its-aftermath/2013/04/26/539125d8-ab60-11e2- a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html.
3. See, e.g., James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era 664–65 (1988); Scott D. Hartwig, The Defense of McPherson’s Ridge, Gettysburg: Hist. Articles of Lasting Interest, July 1989, at 15, 24.
4. This is an enduring by echelon effort from the institutional to the individual level. The Legal Center and Center for Law and Military Operations at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School are responsible for institutional training. Staff judge advocates and local supervisors resource and provide for continuing operational training. And at the end of the day, each of us bears the responsibility for our own individual training—from The Judge Advocate General to the newest member of our Corps.
5. See, e.g., General James C. McConville, 40th Chief of Staff of the Army Initial Message to the Team (Aug. 12, 2019).
6. On 9 January 1961, then-President-elect John F. Kennedy delivered his famous speech, “City Upon a Hill,” wherein he stated:
[I] have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arabella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier. “We must always consider,” he said, “that we shall be as a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us.” Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities. For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within. History will not judge our endeavors—and a government cannot be selected—merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these. For of those to whom much is given, much is required.
John F. Kennedy, U.S. President-Elect, Address Delivered to a Joint Convention of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, The State House, Boston: City Upon a Hill (Jan. 9, 1961), https://www. jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/thecity-upon-a-hill-speech# (emphasis added).