Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army

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Branch insignia of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army

Regimental crest of the JAG Corps

The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers and who provide legal services to the Army at all levels of command. The Judge Advocate General's Legal Service includes judge advocates, warrant officers, paralegal noncommissioned officers and junior enlisted personnel, and civilian employees. The Judge Advocate General is a major general. All military officers are appointed by the U.S. President subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, but the Judge Advocate General is one of the few positions in the Army explicitly provided for by law in Title 10 of the United States Code, and which requires a distinct appointment. Officers who have already been appointed to another branch of the Army actually receive a new commission as a Judge Advocate, rather than merely transferring branches.

General George Washington founded the U.S. Army JAG Corps on July 29th, 1775, with the appointment of William Tudor as the Judge Advocate General. The U.S. Army JAG Corps is the oldest of the judge advocate communities in the U.S. armed forces - as well as the oldest law firm in the United States. The Judge Advocate General, who is referred to as TJAG, serves a term of four years. Major General Scott C. Black, appointed in October 2005, is the 37th TJAG.

The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School is located on the North Grounds at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Adjoining the University of Virginia School of Law, the Legal Center and School is authorized by Congress to award a Master of Laws degree. It has full American Bar Association accreditation separate from UVA. Judge Advocates from all five armed forces of the United States and international students attend the annual Judge Advocate Officer Graduate Course in which the Master's degree is awarded. The Legal Center and School also trains new Judge Advocates, provides continuing legal education for Judge Advocates and lawyers from throughout the United States Government, and trains paralegal noncommissioned officers and court reporters. The Judge Advocate General's School began in World War II at the University of Michigan to train new judge advocates as the Judge Advocate General's Department rapidly expanded. It was disestablished for a time after the war but, after a short stay at Fort Myer in Washington, D.C., was reestablished at the University of Virginia in 1951.

Judge Advocates occupying the position of Staff Judge Advocate serve on the special and personal staff of general officers in command who are general court-martial convening authorities (in other words, who have the authority to convene a general court-martial). Staff Judge Advocates advise commanders on the full range of legal matters encountered in Government legal practice and provide advice on courts-martial as required by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Subordinate judge advocates prosecute courts-martial, and others, assigned to the independent United States Army Trial Defense Service and United States Army Trial Judiciary, serve as defense counsel and judges. The almost 2,000 full-time judge advocates and civilian attorneys who serve The Judge Advocate General's Corps comprise the largest group of attorneys who serve the U.S. Army. Several hundred other attorneys practice under the Chief Counsel of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Command Counsel of the United States Army Materiel Command.

Judge advocates are deployed throughout the United States and around the world, including Japan, South Korea, Germany, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Qatar. They provide legal assistance to soldiers, adjudicate claims against the Army, advise commands on targeting decisions and other aspects of operational law, and assist the command in administering military justice by preparing nonjudicial punishment actions, administrative separation actions, and trying criminal cases at court-martial.

In addition to the active component judge advocates, there are approximately 5,000 attorneys who serve in the US Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. The contributions of these attorneys should not be overlooked, especially in recent years. Several hundred Reserve and National Guard attorneys have answered the call of duty and left their civilian practices to serve in harm's way in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

The branch insignia consists of a gold pen crossed above a gold sword, superimposed over a laurel wreath. The pen signifies the recording of testimony, the sword represents the military character of the JAG corps, and the wreath indicates honor. The insignia was created in May 1890 in silver and changed to gold in 1899.

The regimental crest contains the branch insignia on a shield of argent (silver) and Azure (dark blue), the regimental colors. The "1775" on the ribbon below the shield signifies the founding of the Corps.