I walked back to my car after a University of Virginia football game. No, I was not a student. Just the week before, I had taken command of The Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville. Walking with me was Hugh Overholt, The Judge Advocate General and Fran Gilligan, the Deputy Commandant. There was a pause in the conversation and General Overholt said, “Jack, I think it is time to go after the LL.M. again.”
I couldn’t believe my bad luck. The JAG School had been trying, off and on, to get a master’s degree for their Graduate Class students for at least 30 years. The one-year Graduate Course had previously been called the Career Course and, later, the Advanced Class. The LL.M. effort had been dormant for some years and I had just cut short my tour in Germany to come back and figure out how to be commandant. And now, General “O” is piling on the quest for the LL.M. Where was my squire, Sancho Panza?
About 23 years earlier, as Basic Class students at the JAG School, a few of us decided to stay in Charlottesville and not take leave over the Christmas holiday. The JAG School put us to work. Bill Suter (presently the Clerk of the Supreme Court) and I were assigned the task of preparing a paper explaining why the then Career Course students should be awarded an LL.M. Bill and I thought we did a good job, but realistically, it was probably a “make work” project that just got filed away.
After General Overholt had returned to the Pentagon, we got busy on the LL.M. project. We went about it in an orderly process and put David Graham, our Chief of International Law in charge. We realized that we needed a “champion” in Congress to push our bill through. There was a high ranking congresswoman from western Maryland who was the Chair of the appropriate subcommittee on Armed Services. She was invited down to the JAG School to see our operation and to speak to the Graduate Class.
When the JAG School was built on the grounds of the UVA, it included quarters for the students and guests and dining facilities (We’re not talking a mess hall). It included VIP quarters and a special room up in the club for entertaining special guests, like our congresswoman. Our sergeant major ran the club (ah, those were the days). He could prepare a prime rib that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Our plan was to have the congresswoman for a special prime rib dinner and then, she would speak to the Graduate Class the next morning.
The evening started out great. The wine was flowing and our congresswoman was delightful. All the key officers at the school were present and she was regaling us with things that were happening on the Hill. We were right on track
Some months before we sat down to eat, a whacked out GI wandered around his barracks in Germany mad at the world. He announced to anyone who would listen that he was going to go out and kill a German taxi driver. He then, went out and with eager premeditation murdered a German taxi driver. He was tried by general courts-martial, convicted and sentenced to death. Guess whose congressional district our GI and his family lived it? Yep, my congresswoman.
That night at dinner, she proceeded to tell me that she was looking into the case and she had found out that the JAG officer who defended the case had never been in court before. There it was, an outrageous statement that I knew was false. But, it wasn’t any of my business. I needed to let it pass. Whenever my good friend, Fran Gilligan, hears something he knows is false or just doesn’t believe, he smiles and says, “Oh, is that so”, like he had just learned something new. But, I couldn’t do it. I responded to the congresswoman that I really didn’t know much about the case, but I did know quite a bit about the Army and the JAG Corps and that there was no way they would try a soldier in a capital case without providing him with a seasoned defense counsel. She replied that it was the defense counsel’s first capital case and I explained that capital cases were extremely rare in the Army. Things then got really quiet and I had a chance to reflect on what a jerk I was. I tried to make small talk, but it went nowhere. Here, we bring our champion down to the JAG School to prepare her to fight for our LL.M. and I have her stewing. Not too swift.
Before the evening ended, I apologized for my conduct. The next morning, before I introduced her to the Grad Class, I apologized again. Her sculpted smile told me I wasn’t making any headway. She gave an excellent speech to the class and then closed by saying, “Your commandant has apologized for taking me to task last night. I haven’t decided to accept his apology, but I want you to know that I am still determine to see that all of you receive an LL.M. for the work you have done this year.” Everyone in the class stood up and applauded – me the loudest.
Congress passed our statute and that particular Graduate Class and every class thereafter received a Master of Laws degree. I would like to tell you that I really learned my lesson and that in the future, I have been more diplomatic. Yeah, I’d like to tell you that.
