News & Notes 2021 Issue 2 

The constants of Principled Counsel, Stewardship, Mastery of the Law, and Servant Leadership help members of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps navigate immediate issues and guide our actions in shaping the future. For those supporting the practice of law, the constant that most resonates is Stewardship. 

This year marks the 75th anniversary of an event consequential to the practice of military law—the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg. While the IMT, held from November 1945 to October 1946, was reserved for the highest-ranking German leaders, subsequent tribunals held over the preceding years would carry forward the IMT’s precedence and legacy in determining how international law principles would apply to individual conduct. 

On the morning of 27 March 1945, twenty-four-year-old U.S. Army Second Lieutenant (2LT) Robert A. Schneeweis crossed the Rhine River into Germany with his unit, Company B, 36th Tank Battalion, 8th Armored Division. Shortly after the unit’s arrival in the town of Vorde, Schneeweis told three of his Soldiers—Privates (PVTs) Glen D. Joachims, William Peppler, and Francis F. Nichols—that they were to come with him to “shoot Krauts.”

At its core, a plea agreement contains two ingredients: the accused’s anticipated pleas and the convening authority’s promise to do something beneficial for the accused in return. A stipulation of fact supports the agreement by explaining, factually, what actions the accused took and what mental state the accused harbored for each offense to which he will plead guilty.

To spend money, elements of the Federal Government, including the Department of Defense (DoD), must have a positive grant of authority based in legislation from Congress. Further, without a specific statutory exception, federal entities cannot augment funds appropriated by Congress with outside funds.

[T]here are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

Authorization and appropriation acts permit the Government to spend a specified amount of funds for a provided purpose and duration. When Congress fails to pass these laws, however, a funding gap results.

Since 2003, when then-Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White first asked officers at the U.S. Army War College to determine how the Army could identify commanders with “destructive leadership styles,” the Army has attempted to define, identify, and eliminate toxic leadership.

Education is the keystone upon which modern societies are built. With the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic limiting access to educational resources, developing the right educational strategy has become more important. Distance learning has become an accepted reality, one that requires the use of best practices that ensure students across the Army are able to meet their educational objectives.