General Counsel of the Army

General Counsel of the Department of the Army
AGC
Seal of the Office of the General Counsel
Flag of the general counsel and the assistant secretaries of the Army
Incumbent Levator Norsworthy Acting   since January 20, 2025
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.altess.army.mil

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, 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.

Partial list of general counsels of the Army

Image	Name	Term start	Term end	President appointed by	Secretary served under
	Karl Bendetsen [3]	1949	1950	Harry Truman	Gordon Gray
	Francis Shackelford [4]	1950	1952		Frank Pace
	Bernard A. Monaghan [4]	1952	1953		Frank Pace, Robert T. Stevens
	John G. Adams [4]	1953	1955	Dwight Eisenhower	Robert T. Stevens
	Frank Millard [4]	1955	1961		Wilber M. Brucker
	Powell Pierpoint [4]	1961	1963	John F. Kennedy	Elvis Jacob Stahr Jr., Cyrus Vance
	Joseph A. Califano Jr. [5]	1963	1964		Cyrus Vance
	Alfred B. Fitt [6]	1964	1967	Lyndon B. Johnson	Stephen Ailes, Stanley Rogers Resor
	Robert E. Jordan III [7]	1967	1971		Stanley Rogers Resor
	Robert W. Berry [8]	1971	1974	Richard Nixon	Robert Frederick Froehlke, Howard Callaway
	Charles D. Ablard [9]	1975	1977	Gerald Ford	Martin Richard Hoffmann
	Jill Wine-Volner [10]	1977	1980	Jimmy Carter	Clifford Alexander, Jr.
	Sara E. Lister [11]	1980	1981		Clifford Alexander Jr.
	Delbert Spurlock [12]	1981 [13]	1983	Ronald Reagan	John Otho Marsh Jr.
	Susan J. Crawford [14]	1983	1989
	William J. Haynes II [15]	1990	1993	George H. W. Bush	Michael P. W. Stone
	William Thaddeus Coleman III [16]	1994 [17]	1999	Bill Clinton	Togo D. West Jr.
	Charles A. Blanchard [18]	1999	2001		Louis Caldera
	Steven J. Morello [19]	2001	2004	George W. Bush	Thomas E. White, Francis J. Harvey
	Brad Carson	2012	2014	Barack Obama	John M. McHugh
	Alissa Starzak	2015	2017		Eric Fanning, Patrick Murphy, Robert M. Speer
	Earl G. Matthews (Acting)	2017	2018	Donald Trump	Robert M. Speer, Mark Esper
	James E. McPherson	2018	2020		Mark Esper, Ryan McCarthy
	Michele Pearce (acting)	2020	2021		Ryan McCarthy
	Craig R. Schmauder (senior official)	2021	2022	Joe Biden	John E. Whitley (acting), Christine Wormuth
	Carrie Ricci	2022	2025		Christine Wormuth

See also

• General Counsel of the Department of Defense
• General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force
• General Counsel of the Navy

References

1. 5 U.S.C.   § 5315
2. 10 U.S.C.   § 3019
3. Profile from Truman Library
4. "James E. Hewes, Jr., From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and Administration (1975), pp. 381-382". Archived from the original on 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
5. Jessica Marcy, "Checking in with Joseph A. Califano, Jr.", Kaiser Health News, June 16, 2009
6. History of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1998), p. 134
7. Jordan's Resume
8. Obituary
9. "From Dept. of the Army History Site". Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
10. Profile from the Chicago Network
11. See Martin Binkin & Mark J. Eitelberg, Blacks and the Military (1982), p. 90, n. 11
12. "Nomination of Spurlock to be an Assistant Secretary of the Army". Archived from the original on 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
13. Nomination of Delbert L. Spurlock, Jr., to be an Assistant Secretary of the Army. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. June 29, 1983. p. 2.
14. George H.W. Bush nominates Crawford to be Inspector General of the Department of Defense, Nov. 9, 1989 Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
15. Bio from Dept. of Defense
16. Tamara Loomis, "Did Affirmative Action Really Hinder Clarence Thomas?", Law.com, 06/02/2008
17. He had served three and a half years as of March 28, 1998, according to "Army's Top Lawyer Cleared of Charges", Los Angeles Times, March 28, 1998
18. "Blanchard Bio from Air Force website". Archived from the original on 2011-06-28.
19. "Michelle Bates Deakin, "The U.S. Armed Forces: Diversity Starts at the Top", Diversity and the Bar, Jan./Feb. 2003". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-12-29.

External links

• Office of the General Counsel