THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SCHOOL 1951 - 1961 The Judge Advocate General's School United States Army Charlottesville, Virginia FOREWORD The fudge Advocate Cenera'l's School, 1951-1961, is a record of the events which transpired at the School during the first ten years of its existence in Charlottesville, Virginia. This history traces the evolution of the School as an institution, emphasizing the develop­ ment of its curriculum and organization. This history is published for the purpose of creating, together with the Commandant's Annual Reports, a record of the establish­ ment of the School; its staff and faculty, students, and enlisted per­ sonnel; its operation; and its course structure. The establishment of The Judge Advocate General's School as a permanent part of both the Judge Advocate General's Corps and the Army school system was an unprecedented step of great fore­ sight. The record of the School's achievement in military legal education is ample justification for this conclusion and is also a glowing tribute to the personnel assigned to the School during its first decade. While every effort has been made to make this history as accurate as possible, the absence of complete records of some activities may have resulted in inadvertent omissions. In any case, the School would appreciate receipt of information which would enable the official record to be corrected. ?J7.~ JOHN F. T. MURRAY Colonel, fACC Commandant i THE JUDCE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SCHOOL UNITED STATES ARMY 1951 - 1961 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Foreword Introduction ________________________________________________________________________________________________ v Chapter I-The History of the School Prior to 195L____________________ 1 Chapter II-The Establishment of The Judge Advocate General's School at Charlottesville, Virginia______________ 3 Chapter III-The Academic Department, 1951-196L________________________ 5 Chapter IV-Reserve Activities and Plans Department, 1951-1961 ____________________________________________________________________________ 15 Chapter V-Special Projects and Publications Department, 1951-1961 ____________________________________________________________________________ 31 Chapter VI-Office of the School Secretary, 1951-1961 ______________________ 45 Appendices __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 57 iii COLONEL CHARLES L. DECKER, Commandant, The Judge Advocate General's School, 1951-1955. COLONEL NATHANIEL B. RIEGER, Commandant, The Judge Advocate General's School, 1955-1957. COLONEL JOHN G. O'BRIEN, Commandant, The Judge Advocate General's School, 1957-1961. iv INTRODUCTION The Judge Advocate General's School, U. S. Army, located on the Grounds of the University of Virginia opposite the Law School, is the United States Army's military law center. It is an approved law school rated by American Bar Association inspectors as offering the highest quality specialized graduate program in law to be found in America, and provides a graduate law school atmosphere where the modern Army lawyer is professionally trained in the many aspects of military law. The School's function is to orient the Army lawyer in the fundamentals of military law, to keep his training current, and to give him specialized legal training on an advanced level. As a military law center it attaches considerable importance to its research and publications, including texts and case books, as well as several legal periodicals. The Judge Advocate General's School operates on a year-round basis. About 5,000 students were graduated from courses offered at the School in its initial ten years of operation. Classes are held in the University of Virginia Law School, where many of The Judge Advocate General's School faculty members maintain their offices. There, in the Law School, the Judge Advocate General's Corps students avail themselves of the largest law library in the southern part of the United States. For persons not in residence, a number of legal training programs are offered by the School. Judge advocates on active duty and Reserve judge advocates not on active duty may continue their military legal education by taking extension courses utilizing the "home study" method. Reservists not on active duty also may- attend one of the many branch reserve military legal education centers located in communities throughout the country, where, in 24 two­ hour sessions each year, they are kept informed on current military legal trends and developments by school trained instructors using school prepared materials. The purpose of this history is to highlight the organic growth of The Judge Advocate General's School as an institution from its founding at the University of Virginia 2 August 1951, until 30 June 1961. The history of the School since this latter date has been recorded in the School Commandant's Annual Report. This history supple­ ments these annual reports by recording the developments at The Judge Advocate General's School prior to their publication. This history is necessarily a look at the School as an institution, This is so because the evolution of the institution was constant even though School personalities changed. This is not to detract from v the important roles played by personnel stationed at the School during this period who served as the moving forces behind the institutional evolution. Most instrumental, of course, in this develop­ ment were the School's Commandants. (Colonel Charles L. Decker, 2 August 1951-15 June 1955; Colonel Nathanial B. Rieger, 16 June 1955-24 February 1957; and Colonel John G. O'Brien, 1 March 1957-13 May 1961.) In order to understand much of what is presented in this history, it is desirable to understand the working organization fof the School as of 30 June 1961. At this time The Judge Advocate General's School was divided into three departments and the Office of the School Secretary, aU of which were supervised by the School Commandant. (See Appendix IV for the 1961 organizational chart of the School and Appendix V for the 1961 organizational roster.) The Office of the School Secretary. This department formulated policies and, upon approval, executed policies concerning personnel, administration, security, management, and logistics. These responsi­ bilities included the proper allocation and use of personnel, effective and efficient use of physical facilities, budget preparation and review, and analysis and control of fiscal matters. The Academic Department. This department conducted resident instruction ,for all active Army and Reserve judge advocates and prepared texts for resident instruction. Courses throughout this period (as well as at present) were attended by many civilian attorneys employed by the Federal Government and by military attorneys of all the services. Resident courses in 1961 included the Judge Advo­ cate General (Special) Course and the Judge Advocate Officer Career Course, covering the entire field of military law. The department also conducted specialized courses in military justice, procurement law, contract termination, international law, civil law, military affairs, and civil affairs law. In 1961 the department was comprised of the Civil and International Law, Military Affairs, Military Justice, Mili­ tary Training, and Procurement Law Divisions. The Special Projects and Publications Department. This depart­ ment was responsible for the conduct and coordination of centralized research in the military legal field; prompt dissemination of the re­ sults of such research to members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps; formulation of policies and procedures to aid in maintaining a superior level of staff work by judge advocates; special projects; the preparation of perm'anent and periodical military legal publications such as the Military Law Review and the Judge Advocate Legal Service; the development and preparation of common course legal and quasi-legal instructional material, including training films for vi Army service schools; and the planning and execution of an annual logistical exercise. The Reserve Activities and Plans Department. This department was responsible for developing nonresident training programs to in­ sure that Reserve officers not on active duty maintain the high level of professional legal competence required of military lawyers. In this connection, the department administered the judge advocate portion of the Army extension course program and maintained liaison through periodic staff visits with the judge advocate branch departments of the United States Army Reserve School System (USAR Schools) to which it distributed instructional materials prepared by the School. Additionally, this department furnished training material and allo­ cated training time for the Judge Advocate General Service Organi­ zation (JAGSO) Detachments. In 1961 a primary function of the department was the preparation and writing of nonresident Judge Advocate General's Corps training material. General Brannon Speaks at Formal OPening Exercises. CHAPTER I THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL PRIOR TO 1951 Since 1775, judge advocates have served the United States Army. However, no effort was made to provide them with formal training in military schools until the opening days of World War II. In pre­ ceding years judge advocates were trained empirically, but the Army's swift expansion during World War II and the corresponding increase in the complexity o~ the role of the military lawyer necessitated formal training for members of the Corps. In February 1942, specialized and refresher training courses for active duty personnel were initiated at The National University Law School in Washington, D. C. In August 1942, operations were transferred to the new Judge Advocate General's School located at the University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. In this School, commanded by Colonel Edward H. Young, JAGC, hundreds of officers were trained in military law subjects. At the end of the war, however, as part of the general demobilization, the School was discontinued. Nevertheless, plans were pr~pared in the Office of the Judge Advo­ cate General for a permanent school for the continued education of military lawyers. The passage of COLONEL EDWARD H. YOUNG, the Uni"orm Code of Military Commandant Tustice in 1950 and the subse­ The Judge Advocate General's quent Korean conflict visibly School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. demonstrated the need for well rounded judge advocates, and again under the guidance of Colonel Young another temporary school was established at Fort Myer, Virginia. Late in 1950, while Chief of the Special Projects Division, Of­ fice of the Judge Advocate Gene­ ral, Colonel Charles L. Decker was directed to perfect plans for establishing a permanent Judge Advocate General's School. The accomplishment of this mission led to the establishment of The Judge Advocate General's School at Charlottesville, Virginia.