The Director of Operations, Planning and Development for Military Commissions serves as the point of contact between the Office of Military Commissions and other United States military and civilian agencies. [1] The position was created on 19 September 2008. [1] [2]
The position was to be filled by a flag officer, who was to report directly to the Department of Defense's General Counsel, who was at the time William J. Haynes. Haynes has subsequently resigned, and the first Director reported to United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England and acting General Counsel Daniel J. Dell'Orto.
The first officer to be appointed Director was Brigadier Thomas W. Hartmann a military lawyer in the United States Air Force Reserve. [2] Hartmann had previously been the Legal Advisor to the Convening Authority for the Office of Military Commissions. The Convening Authority is a civilian position, currently held by VADM Bruce MacDonald, the former TJAG of the US Navy (Pentagon). As Legal Advisor Hartmann was essentially the second-in-command.
Hartmann had been reassigned from the position of Legal Advisor after the officers Presiding over three separate Guantanamo military commissions had barred him from participation after he was accused of putting "undue command influence" on Prosecutors. [2] On 2 November 2008 Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald , reported that Hartmann had filed a request to retire from the Air Force on 17 February 2008. [3]
Hartmann was replaced by his deputy Michael Chapman, who had been the deputy Legal Advisor since April 2005.
Hartmann attributed his reassignment, and appointment to the new position, to the "explosive growth of the commissions over the last 10 or 12 months." [2]
The Air Force described Hartmann new appointment as a promotion. Hartmann's boss at the Pentagon, William J. Haynes, had resigned in February. [4]
The Operations Director position was "civilianized" in the fall of 2009 following Hartman's retirement. The current Director of Operations, Ward K. Johnson, III, was appointed to the post in November 2009. Johnson had previously served on active duty with the U.S. Army as a Branch Chief, Presiding Officer and Tribunal President with the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants under the control of Deputy Secretary of Defense England. Johnson had previously served as Director of Operations of the North Dakota National Guard, Provost Marshal for the North Dakota Joint Forces Headquarters, and Commander of the North Dakota Joint Training Center among other senior positions in the North Dakota National Guard. Johnson is a 2005 graduate of the United States Army War College and has been a lawyer licensed to practice law since 1988.
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William James "Jim" Haynes II is an American lawyer and was General Counsel of the Department of Defense during much of 43rd President George W. Bush's administration and his war on terror. Haynes resigned as general counsel effective March 2008.
Thomas W. Hartmann is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in Asia-Pacific Region. From 1991 to 1996 he was an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications. In 1996 he became senior counsel for mergers & acquisitions for SBC Communications closing multiple deals worth several billion dollars in U.S., Europe, and South America as well as negotiating a strategic partnering agreement with a global internet service provider. From 1998 onwards he was general counsel for SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy Inc. (2005–2007) in domestic and international settings. In July 2007 Brigadier General Hartmann was appointed the legal adviser to the convening authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. In September 2008, as a result of the expansion of the commission efforts that General Hartmann had led, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England elevated General Hartmann to become the director of operations, planning, and development for the commissions. Hartmann reported to Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge, who was the convening authority until March 2010.
Bruce Edward MacDonald is a retired United States Navy vice admiral who last served as the 40th Judge Advocate General of the Navy from July 2006 to August 2009. Prior to that, MacDonald served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy from November 2004 to July 2006.
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Michael Chapman is an American lawyer, and former senior officer in the United States Army's Judge Advocate General corps, who was appointed the legal adviser to the Office of Military Commissions, in Guantanamo on September 19, 2008. According to the official press release that announced his appointment his previous appointments included being:
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