"Improve military justice"

Hon. Paul McHale

Philly.com has this op-ed by former Congressman/Assistant Secretary of Defense/retired Marine Corps colonel Paul McHale. He favors Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's Military Justice Improvement Act. "First and foremost," he writes, "an effective commander needs to focus his or her attention on the war-fighting responsibilities of the command. Our commanders are superbly trained and carefully chosen to fulfill this duty. By contrast, commanders are rarely trained or prepared to exercise informed judgment regarding the weight of evidence. They are trained to prepare their troops for battle. The Gillibrand legislation will allow commanders to be combat leaders, while permitting military lawyers to weigh questions of evidence and potential criminality."