Pentagon Official Discusses Forthcoming Review of Military Legal System

A special review panel will assess and recommend improvements to the War Department’s military legal system while also honing the judge advocate general corps’ warfighting skills, according to a Pentagon official with knowledge of the matter. 

In a May 8 memorandum to senior Pentagon leaders titled “Departmental Review of the Military Legal System and its Impact on Service Members,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directed the War Department’s general counsel to convene a special  panel to “conduct an ongoing, long-term, departmentwide review of all aspects of the military legal system, particularly as it affects service members.” 

Hegseth charged the panel with identifying innovative ways to cut unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthen judge advocate training and organizations, and refine the judge advocate culture to be more effective and trusted throughout the services.  

The goal ultimately is to develop the highest standards of professionalism in military legal practice, the delivery of command advice and the delivery of legal services throughout the uniformed communities. 

“I do not recall any other time the department has done this kind of comprehensive review internally, where we’re looking across all services, comparing and contrasting operations, with the goal to implement best practices from each of the respective services,” the official said. 

“Our service members deserve the best legal services available, and part of this process is to assess all aspects of the military legal system to see what we can do better,” the official continued. 

The panel will assess how each service’s judge advocate general corps operates and identify areas for improvement from an organizational perspective, across the department. Unlike past legal review panels, the memo says this panel will “operate on a sustained basis rather than producing a single, end-of-review report.” 

The official explained that the review will be ongoing; as the lines of effort begin, the panel will build based on the data received.  

“As soon as the panel comes up with recommendations, those will be forwarded to the general counsel, then onto [Hegseth] for potential implementation,” the official said, adding that all recommendations the secretary signs will be implemented as soon as possible. The panel will comprise highly qualified legal professionals competitively selected from each service’s judge advocate general corps. 

Once selected, the panel members will “perform a comprehensive evaluation of all service programs and practices, rigorously compare them across the services, benchmark them against other outside organizations like the various federal and state prosecution and defense organizations, and develop concrete recommendations to improve training, organization, culture and overall performance,” according to the memo. 

“This is a holistic assessment of these organizations. … And hopefully, a holistic approach will get us to long-term solutions to improve the military legal system for long-term success,” the official said. “We are seeking to drive innovation and improvements in our military legal system to help meet [Hegseth's] ultimate goals of reviving the warrior ethos, restoring trust in our military, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.”

The duration of the review will be determined by how the lines of effort progress, not only in the review phase but also in the implementation of approved changes.