United States Army Trial Defense Service
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The United States Army Trial Defense Service (USATDS or TDS) is an independent unit within the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army, and is part of the US Army Legal Services Agency. The TDS motto is "Defending Those Who Defend America."
The Trial Defense Service headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia, and is headed by a judge advocate colonel. TDS headquarters consists of the Chief of TDS, the Deputy Chief, and a number of supporting attorneys, paralegals, and administrative support staff. Under the Chief of TDS, there are eight Regional Defense Counsels (RDC), each responsible for overseeing defense services within their own geographic region (see below). Each RDC oversees several Senior Defense Counsels (SDC), who are in charge of field offices and are responsible for providing defense services for a specific post, command, or area. Some field offices oversee geographically separated branch offices.
All active duty TDS attorneys are assigned to the Trial Defense Service with duty at their particular location. This requires each attorney to be attached for administrative purposes to a local unit. Additionally, even though they are part of a separate command, each TDS office depends on its servicing Staff Judge Advocate for logistical support, to include assignment of paralegal specialists and other support personnel.
Although there are over 200 TDS attorneys in the Regular Army, the bulk of TDS is made up of US Army Reserve attorneys and paralegals. The reserve component of the Trial Defense Service consists of the 22nd Legal Support Organization and the 154th Legal Support Organization. The 22nd LSO is responsible for reserve TDS services west of the Mississippi River (except Minnesota), and the 154th LSO is responsible for TDS service east of the Mississippi and in Minnesota, Germany, and Puerto Rico. Both LSOs are divided into teams that are spread throughout their areas of responsibility.
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[edit] Mission
TDS provides conflict-free legal services to soldiers who are facing adverse criminal or administrative actions at no cost to the soldier. The various categories of representation fall into three priorities.
- Priority 1: Criminal representation at trials by court-martial is the top priority of TDS and takes precedence over all other actions. TDS counsel make motions, voir dire the panel, offer evidence, examine and cross-examine witnesses, present argument, and negotiate on their client's behalf.
- Priority 2: Assistance with administrative separations (actions to discharge soldiers prior to the end of their service), nonjudicial punishment, and summary courts-martial.
- Priority 3: All other actions, including advising soldiers of their rights as a suspect and responding to letters of reprimand. Priority 3 actions may also be handled by legal assistance attorneys, depending on the availability of TDS.
[edit] History
In the Army military justice system, the main decisionmaker is the general court-martial convening authority (GCMCA), usually a division, post, or area commander. Each GCMCA has a Staff Judge Advocate, who serves as the legal advisor to the general. The Staff Judge Advocate also supervises a number of subordinate attorneys assigned to his or her particular unit. Collectively, the attorneys assigned to a particular command are called the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.
Prior to the late 1970s, the duty of defense counsel was just another assignment within the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, much like the trial counsel (military prosecutor). To some, this created the appearance of a conflict of interest when two opposing counsel worked within the same office. To others, especially some soldier clients, the fact that their defense counsel wore the same unit patch as the prosecuting attorney and worked in the same building created the impression that their attorney was on the general's side and not theirs.
Between 1978 and 1980, the Army Chief of Staff approved an experimental program to determine whether it would be feasible to create a separate command solely for Army defense counsel. The pilot program was deemed a success, and in December 1980, the Trial Defense Service was born.
Because of the limited number of TDS attorneys (even the Army's largest installation, Fort Hood, Texas, only has around 10 TDS attorneys), the TDS organization was originally not large enough to have its own unit patch (Shoulder Sleeve Insignia). For 25 years, the TDS "unit patch" was the Department of the Army Staff Support patch, also worn by members of the US Army Safety Center and the Defense Commissary Agency. However, in August 2006, a distinctive unit patch for TDS was approved for wear. From the Institute of Heraldry's description: "The shield-shaped patch reflects the nature of legal defense work. The sword supporting scales of justice represents the unit’s mission to defend soldiers at courts-martial and separations boards; seeking justice for all soldiers. The sword also signifies that Trial Defense Service personnel are soldiers as well as lawyers. The glory, mullet, and the red border are adapted from the Department of the Army Staff Support patch previously authorized for wear by the Trial Defense Service, and provides a historical link to its organizational heritage."
[edit] TDS Regions
Currently, the active component of the Trial Defense Service has attorneys and paralegals stationed in eight geographic regions.
- Region I: Nnortheast United States. Fort Drum, New York, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Fort Eustis, Virginia, Fort Knox, Kentucky, Fort Lee, Virginia, Fort Meade, Maryland, and the Military District of Washington.
- Region II: Southeastern United States. Fort Stewart, Georgia, Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Gordon, Georgia, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Fort Rucker, Alabama, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, and Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.
- Region III: Midwestern United States. Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Fort Riley, Kansas, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Fort Carson, Colorado, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
- Region IV: Southwestern United States. Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
- Region V: Pacific region, United States. Fort Irwin, California, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Fort Lewis, Washington, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and Fort Richardson, Alaska.
- Region VI: The Far East. Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Taegu, South Korea, Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, and Camp Casey, South Korea.
- Trial Defense Service Europe (formerly Regions VII & VIII). Vicenza, Italy; Kosovo; and Baumholder, Darmstadt, Friedberg, Hanau, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Bamberg, Katterbach, Kitzingen, Schweinfurt, Vilseck, and Würzburg, Germany.
- Region IX: The Middle East. Offices are located in different locations around Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
[edit] Reputation
Because TDS attorneys must almost always take positions opposing the command, there is a natural rivalry between TDS counsel and their trial counsel counterparts. Since it became a separate command, TDS has been increasingly referred to as "The Dark Side" (a play on the TDS initials, as well as a reference to the antagonists in the Star Wars films), and its patch has similarly been referred to as "The Death Star." Some TDS counsel have played up the stereotype of belonging to the "dark side," going so far as to decorate their offices with the Jolly Roger. Some TDS leaders have tried, unsuccessfully, to quash the stereotypes on both sides as counterproductive -- after all, most JAG captains are just as likely to become TDS attorneys after they complete assignments as trial counsel, and are also likely to return to more senior trial counsel positions when they complete their tours in TDS. All efforts to the contrary, however, the Jolly Roger still flies in TDS offices around the globe.
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