General Counsel of the Department of Defense

The General Counsel of the Department of Defense is the chief legal officer of the Department of Defense (DoD), advising both the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on all legal matters and services, and providing legal advice to Office of the Secretary of Defense organizations and, as appropriate, other DOD components.

General Counsel of the Department of Defense
Seal of the Office of General Counsel
Flag of the General Counsel[1]
Incumbent
Caroline Krass
since August 2, 2021
Department of Defense
Office of the Secretary
StyleThe Honorable
Reports toSecretary of Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense
SeatThe Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrument10 U.S.C. § 140
PrecursorAssistant Secretary of Defense for Legal and Legislative Affairs
Formation1953
First holderH. Struve Hensel
DeputyPrincipal Deputy General Counsel Corin R. Stone
SalaryExecutive Schedule, level IV[2]
Websiteogc.osd.mil

The General Counsel develops the department's Legislative Program and coordinates DoD positions on legislation and Executive Orders; coordinates the appeals process for denied FOIA requests; oversees the performance and standards of DoD attorneys; establishes policy on general legal issues and determines the DoD position on specific legal problems; maintains repository for all international agreements coordinated, negotiated, or concluded by DoD personnel; and is "dual-hatted" as Director of the Defense Legal Services Agency.

This position was established by Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1953 and by Defense Directive 5145.1, signed 24 August 1953. The position derived its responsibilities from one of the original three Special Assistants to the Secretary (established in 1947) and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legal and Legislative Affairs) (established in 1949).[3]

Office holders
General Counsels of the Department of Defense[3]
Image Name Tenure SecDef(s) served under President(s) served under
H. Struve HenselAugust 17, 1953 – March 4, 1954Charles Erwin WilsonDwight Eisenhower
Wilber M. BruckerApril 23, 1954 – July 20, 1955
Mansfield D. SpragueOctober 6, 1955 – February 27, 1957
Robert DechertFebruary 28, 1957 – July 15, 1959Charles Erwin Wilson
Neil H. McElroy
J. Vincent Burke Jr.September 14, 1959 – January 20, 1961Neil H. McElroy
Thomas S. Gates
Cyrus VanceJanuary 29, 1961 – June 30, 1962Robert S. McNamaraJohn F. Kennedy
John McNaughtonJuly 5, 1962 – June 25, 1964John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)July 1, 1964 – September 19, 1966Lyndon B. Johnson
Paul WarnkeOctober 3, 1966 – July 31, 1967
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)August 1, 1967 – August 20, 1970Robert S. McNamara
Clark Clifford
Melvin Laird		Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
J. Fred BuzhardtAugust 20, 1970 – January 4, 1974Melvin Laird
Elliot Richardson
James R. Schlesinger		Richard Nixon
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)May 22, 1973 – March 13, 1974James R. Schlesinger
Martin Richard HoffmannMarch 14, 1974 – August 5, 1975Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)August 6, 1975 – January 1, 1976James R. Schlesinger
Donald Rumsfeld		Gerald Ford
Richard A. WileyJanuary 2, 1976 – January 15, 1977Donald Rumsfeld
Deanne C. SiemerApril 28, 1977 – October 15, 1979Harold BrownJimmy Carter
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)October 15, 1979 – February 1, 1980
Togo D. West Jr.February 1, 1980 – January 20, 1981
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)January 20, 1981 – April 1, 1981Caspar WeinbergerRonald Reagan
William Howard Taft IVApril 2, 1981 – May 2, 1984
Chapman B. CoxMay 3, 1984 – December 16, 1985
Henry L. Garrett IIIFebruary 5, 1986 – August 6, 1987
Leonard Niederlehner (Acting)August 7, 1987 – October 25, 1987
Kathleen A. BuckOctober 26, 1987 – December 30, 1989Caspar Weinberger
Frank Carlucci
William Howard Taft IV
Dick Cheney		Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Terrence O'DonnellOctober 30, 1989 – March 6, 1992Dick CheneyGeorge H. W. Bush
C. Paul Beach Jr. (Acting)March 7, 1992 – August 11, 1992
David AddingtonAugust 12, 1992 – January 20, 1993
John H. McNeil (Acting)January 20, 1993 – May 5, 1993Les AspinBill Clinton
Jamie GorelickMay 5, 1993 – March 17, 1994Lee Aspin
William Perry
Stephen W. Preston (Acting)March 28, 1994 – September 28, 1994William Perry
Judith A. MillerSeptember 29, 1994 – November 7, 1999William Perry
William Cohen
Douglas A. DworkinNovember 7, 1999 – June 14, 2000 (Acting)
June 14, 2000 – January 19, 2001		William Cohen
William J. Haynes IIMay 24, 2001 – February 26, 2008[4]Donald Rumsfeld
Robert Gates		George W. Bush
Jeh JohnsonFebruary 10, 2009 – December 31, 2012Robert Gates
Leon Panetta		Barack Obama
Robert S. Taylor (Acting)[5]January 1, 2013 – October 25, 2013Leon Panetta
Chuck Hagel
Stephen W. PrestonOctober 25, 2013–June 2015Chuck Hagel
Ashton Carter
Robert S. Taylor (Acting)[5] June 2015 - June 14, 2016 Ashton Carter
Jennifer M. O'ConnorJune 14, 2016–January, 20 2017Ashton Carter
William S. Castle (Acting)August 2017 – July 2018James Mattis Donald Trump
Paul C. Ney Jr.August 20, 2018 – January 20, 2021James Mattis
Mark Esper
Christopher C. Miller (acting)
Beth George (Acting)January 20, 2021 – August 2, 2021David Norquist (acting)
Lloyd Austin		Joe Biden
Caroline KrassAugust 2, 2021 – presentLloyd Austin

See also

References
  1. https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=16157&CategoryId=9352 Archived 2023-09-04 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed on 2023-9-3.
  2. 5 U.S.C. § 5315
  3. "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
  4. "Pentagon lawyer to leave administration: The Swamp". Swamppolitics.com. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
  5. "General Counsel Bio". Dod.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
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