Duke Law School's Maj Gen Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. USAF (Ret) has posted this important and timely Lawfire piece on the nascent effort to get rid of the incumbent Judge Advocates General. Excerpt:
Last night’s announcement that the Administration is “requesting nominations for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force” is unprecedented in my memory and is, frankly, very disturbing as it implies the existing senior military lawyers are about to be fired, en masse.
I say “unprecedented” because these are military legal officers who, unlike politically appointed civilian legal officials elsewhere in government, are never expected to be replaced on a change of Administrations. Since military lawyers are nonpartisan, no turnover is–or should be–expected in an organization like the armed forces that aims to be politically neutral.
Indeed, the Supreme Court, as discussed below, says the military should be “insulated from both the reality and the appearance” of partisanship. Mass firings by politicos don’t do that.
To the contrary, stripping the armed forces of its senior uniformed legal advisors tasked by law to provide independent advice sends all wrong messages throughout the military legal community, not to mention to commanders and their troops.
In my opinion, Congress should vigorously demand a full explanation. . . .
Terrific and timely
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