Tribute to the late Col (R) Fran Gilligan

LTG Joseph B. Berger III, The Judge Advocate General of the Army, has released the following tribute:

It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of COL (Ret.) Francis "Fran" A. Gilligan of Arlington, VA. He passed away on July 6, 2024, at the age of 84 from pancreatic cancer. He was in his 67th year of federal service.

COL (Ret.) Gilligan enlisted in the New York National Guard as a 17-year-old in 1957, then commissioned through ROTC as an Infantry Second Lieutenant from Alfred University in 1961. COL (Ret.) Gilligan delayed his entry onto active duty to attend law school in law school, he was selected for the new Excess Leave Program, and received a Regular Army Commission on September 5, 1963. In addition to his law degree, he earned his Master of Law degree and Doctor of Juridical Science from George Washington University in 1970, and received a Master in Military Art and Science degree from the Command & General Staff College in 1978. He was also a graduate of the U.S. Army War College.

COL (Ret.) Gilligan served in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps for 27 years and held numerous positions, to include trial counsel, defense counsel, appellate counsel, 101st Airborne Division Staff Judge Advocate, Deputy Commandant of TJAGLCS, Chief of Criminal Law for Department of the Army and Chairman of the Joint Service Committee, and the Army's Chief Trial Judge. After his prestigious military career, COL (Ret.) Gilligan served for 15 years as the Senior Legal Advisor at the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF). Most recently, he served as the Director of Training at the Office of Military Commissions for almost 18 years.

COL (Ret.) Gilligan was widely known throughout DoD as a military justice expert and a prolific author, having written 10 books, over 40 articles, and numerous Army publications on criminal law, evidence, and related topics. A lifelong educator, COL (Ret.) Gilligan taught law students, lawyers, and judges at numerous institutions, to include TJAGLCS, the Army War College, the Universities of Maryland and Virginia, Catholic University Law School, and George Washington University Law School.

COL (Ret.) Gilligan is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara, of 63 years; his two daughters, Cheryl, and her spouse, Phil Natsios, and Kelly, and her spouse BG (Ret.) Paul Bontrager; four grandchildren (and spouses); and seven great grandchildren. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors at a future date. The family requests that memorial gifts go to the George Washington University School of Law as a final acknowledgment of COL (Ret.) Gilligan's lifelong commitment to service and education.

Please keep the Gilligan family in your thoughts during this most difficult time.

Fran was one of the leading scholars of American military justice of his generation. Among other achievements, he was co-author (with Col (R) Fredric I. Lederer) of LexisNexis's invaluable Court-Martial Procedure.

For your military justice library

Congratulations to GWU's Lisa M. Schenck on the publication of the 4th edition of West's Modern Military Justice: Cases and Materials. Details and a big excerpt can be found here.

USS Somers -- book review

Steven Pfaff has written this [paywalled] International Journal of Maritime History review of The Curse of the Somers: The Secret History behind the U.S. Navy’s Most Infamous Mutiny by James P. Delgado.

Can the Army quit racial disparities?

"The Jim Crow Army Must Have a Scapegoat," tells of Lieutenant Leon Gilbert's court-martial for refusing an order during the Korean War. The article provides the context of the time. While President Harry S Truman ordered the intergration of the services in 1948, Lieutenant Gilbert still belonged to a segregated unit. The quagmimre in Korea, with the occasional American retreat, resulted in African American Soldiers receiving a higher share of the blame for a lack of mettle.

Lieutenant Gilbert refused to follow orders to return to battle then received a quick court-martial. The all white panel sentenced him to death. Many contemporaries saw it as inordinate punishment. President Truman commuted the sentence. 

The article paints an interesting portrait of Lieutenant Gilbert, as it appears he made a similar decision in World War II, but received more compassion. So there's an element of mental health issues, and the difficult decisions people must make when they risk their own life. 

The article also calls to mind, obviously, America's disparate treatment of African Americans within the criminal justice system and how that carries over to our military. While things have gotten better in the sense of official acknowlegment of the problem, we're still not where we need to be.

Anyway, interesting article. Go read it!

Speed bump for reform in Chile

The Supreme Court of Chile has submitted its report on a bill to amend the Code of Military Justice, raising questions about the measure. Details here (use Google Translate). Excerpt:

For the plenary session of ministers, although the project is part of the efforts to restrict the jurisdiction of the military courts, the basis of the motion is incompatible with the purposes of supporting the exclusion of conscripts from the status of military personnel, as well as the establishment of a rule of jurisdiction based on this logic.

The Supreme Court notes that, given the above, the bill presents areas of concern that merit review, especially regarding the understanding of conscription as an eminently military quality, given the duties of obedience and discipline that assist conscripts and that are framed within the military legal system.

It also concludes that the motion presents systemic difficulties that render the proposal inconsistent, in the terms already elaborated above.