United States Judge Advocate Generals Corps (JAG)

U. S. JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERALS CORPS (JAG) -  The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army is the legal arm of the United States Army.  The Corps is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers and 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 Judge Advocate General is a lieutenant general.  All military officers are appointed by the U.S. President subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, but the Judge Advocate General is one of the few positions in the Army explicitly provided for by law in Title 10 of the United States Code, and which requires a distinct appointment.  Officers who have already been appointed to another branch of the Army are administratively dismissed and simultaneously recommissioned anew as judge advocates, rather than merely transferring branches.

General George Washington founded the U.S. Army JAG Corps on July 29, 1775, with the appointment of William Tudor as the Judge Advocate General.  The Army Judge Advocate General's Corps is the oldest of the judge advocate communities in the U.S. armed forces – as well as the oldest law firm in the United States.  The Judge Advocate General, who is referred to as TJAG (pronounced "tea-jag"), serves a term of four years. Lieutenant General Flora D. Darpino, appointed on September 4, 2013, is the thirty-ninth Judge Advocate General and the first female to serve in that position.  The appointment of then-Major General Scott C. Black, to the grade of lieutenant general on December 11, 2008 brought the billet into parity with the Army's Surgeon General and Chief of Engineers.