Today, the nation’s military lawyers, sometimes infor-
mally referred to as JAGs, practice in a broad array of legal areas beyond their well-known duties of prosecuting, defending, and presiding over courts-martial. Given the nation’s broad military commitments abroad and the JAGs role in advising military leaders on the rules of engagement in war, it’s clear that military lawyers play a key role in national security as well. T e uniformed services record on diversity has not
AS OF 2010, THE U.S. ARMY JAG CORPS EMPLOYED 1,858 MILITARY ATTORNEYS, THE AIR FORCE 1,237, THE NAVY 857, AND THE MARINE CORPS 473. THE ARMY JAG CORPS REFERS TO ITSELF AS THE NATION’S OLDEST LAW FIRM, FOUNDED BY GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON ON JULY 29, 1775.
been stellar, though the branches have come a long way in achieving racial and gender diversity among their attorney staff s since recognizing they had a problem in the 1960s and 1970s. T e racial confl ict within the military during that time
and perceptions that the military legal system was stacked against African American servicemen necessitated the drive toward racial diversity. Attempts to bring about gender diversity in the military legal system had to contend with the legal restrictions in those days on women service mem- bers’ assignments, as well as longstanding prejudice against women among military men. “Back in those days, there were racial incidents on
Army bases at home and in Vietnam, and in the Navy on such ships as the Kitty Hawk,” says retired Air Force Col. William A. Gunn, who is now the general counsel of the Department of Veterans Aff airs and who has studied the history of race relations in the uniformed services. Gunn retired from the military in 2005 after a distin- guished career in which he supervised the legal defense of Guantanamo detainees and was widely lauded for ensuring that they received eff ective representation. In 1972, between 100 and 200 African American sailors
on the USS Kitty Hawk, stationed off the coast of Vietnam, mutinied and assaulted several white sailors in what was widely described as a race riot. T ey were armed with chains, wrenches, bars, and similar weapons, and three white sailors were seriously injured. Among the rioters’ grievances was the allegation that white crewmen received lighter punishments than African Americans for the same
“THERE WAS A RECOGNITION BY THE MILITARY OF THE NEED FOR CHANGE. DIVERSITY BECAME A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE.” – COL. WILLIAM GUNN
MCCA.COM MAY/JUNE 2012 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®
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