The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces and the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of defense. While the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other commissioned officers, the chairman is prohibited by law from having operational command authority over the armed forces; however, the chairman assists the president and the secretary of defense in exercising their command functions.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as the "JAG Corps" or "JAG", is the legal arm of the United States Navy. Today, the JAG Corps consists of a worldwide organization of more than 1,000 commissioned officers serving as judge advocates, 550 enlisted members, and nearly 700 civilian personnel, all serving under the direction of the judge advocate general of the Navy. The organization also includes more than 550 Reserve office and enlisted members in the Navy Reserve Law Program.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army, also known as the U.S. Army JAG Corps, is the legal arm of the United States Army. It is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers, who provide legal services to the Army at all levels of command, and also includes legal administrator warrant officers, paralegal noncommissioned officers and junior enlisted personnel, and civilian employees.
The Coast Guard Judge Advocate General oversees the delivery of legal services to the United States Coast Guard, through the Office of the Judge Advocate General in Washington, the Legal Service Command, offices in the Atlantic and Pacific Areas, nine Coast Guard Districts, the Coast Guard Academy, three training centers, and a number of other activities and commands. Legal services are delivered by Coast Guard judge advocates and civilian counsel in ten legal practice areas: criminal law/military justice, operations, international activities, civil advocacy, environmental law, procurement law, internal organizational law, regulations and administrative law, legislative support and legal assistance.
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. As of November 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense is the second largest employer in the world after India, with over 1.4 million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense's stated mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
The United States Marine Corps' Judge Advocate Division serves both to advise the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) and other officials in Headquarters, Marine Corps on legal matters, and to oversee the Marine Corps legal community. The head of the Judge Advocate Division (JAD) is the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant.
The surgeon general of the Navy (SGN) is the most senior commissioned officer of the Medical Corps of the United States Navy and is the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and director of the Defense Health Agency on all health and medical matters pertaining to the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. As head of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the surgeon general also manages Navy and Marine healthcare policy, administering the services' healthcare and biomedical research facilities as well as the various staff corps of BUMED, including the Medical Corps and an enlisted corps. The surgeon general is also a member of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
A rear admiral in four of the uniformed services of the United States is one of two distinct ranks of commissioned officers; "rear admiral (lower half)," a one-star flag officer, and "rear admiral" (sometimes referred to as "rear admiral (upper half)"), a two-star flag officer. The two ranks are only utilized by the United States Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. In contrast, in most other nations' rank-bearing services, the term "rear admiral" refers exclusively to two-star flag officer rank.
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.
Vice admiral is a three-star commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, and the United States Maritime Service, with the pay grade of O-9. Vice admiral ranks above rear admiral and below admiral. Vice admiral is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general in the other uniformed services.
John Rolph is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General corps.
The Naval Justice School (NJS) is an educational institution of the United States Navy whose mission is to instruct Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers and enlisted personnel in the fundamental principles of military justice, civil and administrative law, and procedure. In addition to being licensed attorneys in any state or territory of the U.S., all attorneys in the Judge Advocate General's Corps must undergo training either in this institution, or in the complementary institutions of the United States Army and the United States Air Force, allowing them to act as trial or defense counsel at military courts-martial.
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.
James W. Houck is a retired United States Navy vice admiral. He served as the 41st Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the United States Navy from 14 Aug. 2009 to 20 July 2012. He is currently on the faculty at Penn State Law and the Penn State School of International Affairs.
The Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy (DJAG) is the second-highest ranking JAG officer and lawyer in the United States Navy. As part of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, the DJAG also serves as Deputy Department of Defense Representative for Ocean Policy Affairs.
Nanette M. "Nan" DeRenzi is a former United States Navy officer. She served as the 42nd Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the United States Navy. She assumed that position on July 20, 2012 and held it until her retirement on June 26, 2015. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy (DJAG) from August 2009 to July 2012.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates.
The Naval Legal Service Command is an Echelon 2 command of the United States Navy. Its stated mission is to provide legal services to the worldwide components of the fleet.
James Walter Crawford III is an American university administrator and former United States Navy officer who is the president-elect of Texas Southern University. He served in the Navy for 34 years before and is the former president of Felician University, having left the role in April 2023.
Donald Joseph Guter is an American educator, lawyer and retired United States Navy rear admiral who was the 10th president and dean of South Texas College of Law Houston from 2009 to 2019. He previously served as the 10th dean of the Duquesne University School of Law from 2005 to 2008, when he was dismissed by Duquesne University president Charles J. Dougherty over a tenure battle.
