General Counsel of the Department of the Army | |
---|---|
AGC | |
Department of the Army Office of the Secretary | |
Style | The Honorable |
Reports to | Secretary of the Army Under Secretary of the Army |
Seat | The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, United States |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Term length | No fixed term |
Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 3019 |
Formation | 1949 |
First holder | Karl Bendetsen |
Deputy | Principal Deputy General Counsel (PDGC) |
Salary | Executive Schedule, level IV [1] |
Website | ogc |
The General Counsel of the Army (also known as the Army General Counsel, abbreviated AGC) is the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Army and senior legal advisor to the Secretary of the Army.
U.S. law provides that the General Counsel shall be appointed from the civilian life by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and that the Secretary of the Army prescribes the duties of the office. [2]
The Office of the General Counsel of the Army also provides legal advice to the Under Secretary of the Army and the five Assistant Secretaries of the Army, as well as other members of the Army Secretariat. The General Counsel of the Army also plays a role in supervising the Office of the Judge Advocate General and the Office of the Chief Counsel of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries. The secretary of defense is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
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The secretary of the Army is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications and financial management.
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The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department of Defense in the exercise of policy development, planning, resource management, fiscal, and program evaluation responsibilities. OSD is the Secretary of Defense's support staff for managing the Department of Defense, and it corresponds to what the Executive Office of the President of the U.S. is to the U.S. president for managing the whole of the Executive branch of the federal government.
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general.
The Judge Advocate General of the Navy (JAG) is the highest-ranking uniformed lawyer in the United States Department of the Navy. The Judge Advocate General is the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations on legal matters pertaining to the Navy. The Judge Advocate General also performs other duties prescribed to him under 10 U.S.C. § 8088 and those prescribed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
James Edwin McPherson is an American government official and retired United States Navy rear admiral. He served as the General Counsel of the Army from January 2, 2018, to March 24, 2020. He served as the United States Under Secretary of the Army from March 25, 2020, to January 20, 2021, and in acting capacity from July 23, 2019, to March 24, 2020. He served as Acting United States Secretary of the Navy from April 7, 2020, to May 29, 2020, following the resignation of Thomas Modly.
The General Counsel of the Department of the Navy is the senior civilian lawyer in the U.S. Department of the Navy and is the senior legal adviser to the Secretary of the Navy. The Office of the General Counsel of the Navy provides legal advice to the Secretary, the Under Secretary of the Navy and the various Assistant Secretaries of the Navy and their staffs. The General Counsel of the Navy is the third highest-ranking civilian office in the Department of the Navy, behind the Secretary and Under Secretary of the Navy.
Assistant Secretary of the Army is a title used to describe various civilian officials in the United States Department of the Army.
The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), abbreviated as ASA(M&RA), is a civilian official in the United States Department of the Army.
Delbert Leon Spurlock Jr. was United States Assistant Secretary of the Army from 1983 to 1989 and United States Deputy Secretary of Labor from 1991 to 1993.
The general counsel of the Department of Defense is the chief legal officer of the Department of Defense (DoD), advising both the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on all legal matters and services, and providing legal advice to Office of the Secretary of Defense organizations and, as appropriate, other DOD components.
The General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force is the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Air Force.
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