View source for General Counsel of the Department of Defense

{{Short description|Chief legal officer of the United States Department of Defense}}
{{Infobox political post
| post = General Counsel
| body = the Department of Defense
| nativename = 
| flag = Flag of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Defense.svg
| flagsize = 120
| flagcaption = Flag of the General Counsel<ref>https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=16157&CategoryId=9352 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904024434/https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=16157&CategoryId=9352 |date=2023-9-3 }} . Accessed on 2023-9-3.</ref>
| insignia = DOD Office of General Counsel seal.gif
| insigniasize = 120
| insigniacaption = Seal of the Office of General Counsel
| image = Caroline Krass, DOD General Counsel.jpg
| incumbent = [[Caroline Krass]]
| incumbentsince = August 2, 2021
| style = [[The Honorable]]
| department = [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]<br>[[Office of the Secretary of Defense|Office of the Secretary]]
| reports_to = [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]<br>[[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense|Deputy Secretary of Defense]]
| seat = [[The Pentagon]], [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]], [[Virginia]], United States
| appointer = The [[President of the United States|President]]
| appointer_qualified = with [[United States Senate|Senate]] [[advice and consent]]
| termlength = No fixed term
| constituting_instrument = {{UnitedStatesCode|10|140}}
| precursor = [[Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs|Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legal and Legislative Affairs]]
| formation = 1953
| first = [[H. Struve Hensel]]
| deputy = Principal Deputy General Counsel Corin R. Stone
| salary = [[Executive Schedule|Executive Schedule, level IV]]<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|5|5315}}</ref>
| website = {{url|http://ogc.osd.mil/index.html|ogc.osd.mil}}
}}

The '''general counsel of the Department of Defense''' is the [[general counsel|chief legal officer]] of the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD), advising both the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary]] and [[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense|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.

The general counsel develops the department's Legislative Program and coordinates DoD positions on legislation and Executive Orders; coordinates the appeals process for denied [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|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 for Legislative Affairs|Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legal and Legislative Affairs)]] (established in 1949).<ref name="multiple"/>

==Office holders==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ General Counsels of the Department of Defense<ref name="multiple">{{cite web|url=http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%20Key%20Officials%201947-2004.pdf |title=Department of Defense Key Officials |publisher=Historical Office, OSD |year=2004 |access-date=2011-02-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721034250/http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%20Key%20Officials%201947-2004.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-21 }}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" style="width:80px;"| Image
! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Name
! scope="col" style="width:120px;"| Tenure
! scope="col" style="width:215px;"| SecDef(s) served under
! scope="col" style="width:215px;"| President(s) served under
|-
| [[File:Streuve Hensel (Assistant Secretary of the Navy).jpg|80px]] || [[H. Struve Hensel]] || August 17, 1953 – March 4, 1954 || rowspan="3" | [[Charles Erwin Wilson]] || rowspan="5" | [[Dwight Eisenhower]]
|-
| [[File:Wilber Marion Brucker (cropped).jpg|80px]] || [[Wilber M. Brucker]] || April 23, 1954 – July 20, 1955
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[Mansfield D. Sprague]] || October 6, 1955 – February 27, 1957
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Robert Dechert || February 28, 1957 – July 15, 1959 || Charles Erwin Wilson<br>[[Neil H. McElroy]]
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[J. Vincent Burke Jr.]] || September 14, 1959 – January 20, 1961 || Neil H. McElroy<br>[[Thomas S. Gates]]
|-
| [[File:CyrusVanceSoS.jpg|80px]] || [[Cyrus Vance]] || January 29, 1961 – June 30, 1962 || rowspan="4" | [[Robert S. McNamara]] || [[John F. Kennedy]]
|-
| [[File:John T. McNaughton (cropped).jpg|80px]] || [[John McNaughton (government official)|John McNaughton]] || July 5, 1962 – June 25, 1964 || John F. Kennedy<br>Lyndon B. Johnson
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[Leonard Niederlehner]] {{small|(Acting)}} || July 1, 1964 – September 19, 1966 || rowspan="2" | Lyndon B. Johnson
|-
| [[File:Paul Warnke 1983 (cropped).jpg|80px]] || [[Paul Warnke]] || October 3, 1966 – July 31, 1967
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || August 1, 1967 – August 20, 1970 || Robert S. McNamara<br>[[Clark Clifford]]<br>[[Melvin Laird]] || Lyndon B. Johnson<br>[[Richard Nixon]]
|-
| [[File:Nixon Contact Sheet WHPO-E1677 (cropped).jpg|80px]] || [[J. Fred Buzhardt]] || August 20, 1970 – January 4, 1974 || Melvin Laird<br>[[Elliot Richardson]]<br>[[James R. Schlesinger]] || rowspan="2" | Richard Nixon
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || May 22, 1973 – March 13, 1974 || rowspan="2" | James R. Schlesinger 
|-
| [[File:Martin Richard Hoffmann.jpg|80px]] || [[Martin Richard Hoffmann]] || March 14, 1974 – August 5, 1975 || Richard Nixon<br>[[Gerald Ford]]
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || August 6, 1975 – January 1, 1976 || James R. Schlesinger<br>Donald Rumsfeld || rowspan="2" | Gerald Ford
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[Richard A. Wiley]] || January 2, 1976 – January 15, 1977 || Donald Rumsfeld
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[Deanne C. Siemer]] || April 28, 1977 – October 15, 1979 || rowspan="3" | [[Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)|Harold Brown]] || rowspan="3" | [[Jimmy Carter]]
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || October 15, 1979 – February 1, 1980
|-
| [[File:TogoDWest.jpg|80px]] || [[Togo D. West Jr.]] || February 1, 1980 – January 20, 1981
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || January 20, 1981 – April 1, 1981 || rowspan="5" | [[Caspar Weinberger]] || rowspan="5" | [[Ronald Reagan]]
|-
| [[File:William Howard Taft IV, Deptuty Secretary of Defense, official portrait.JPEG|80px]] || [[William Howard Taft IV]] || April 2, 1981 – May 2, 1984 
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Chapman Beecher Cox.jpg|80px]] || [[Chapman B. Cox]] || May 3, 1984 – December 16, 1985
|-
| [[File:Portrait of H. Lawrence Garrett III.jpg|80px]] || [[Henry L. Garrett III]] || February 5, 1986 – August 6, 1987
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || Leonard Niederlehner {{small|(Acting)}} || August 7, 1987 – October 25, 1987
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Kathleen A. Buck, Air Force General Counsel DF-SC-87-03100 (6412597).jpg|80px]] || [[Kathleen A. Buck]] || October 26, 1987 – December 30, 1989 || Caspar Weinberger<br>[[Frank Carlucci]]<br>William Howard Taft IV<br>[[Dick Cheney]] || Ronald Reagan<br>[[George H. W. Bush]]
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Terrence O'Donnell.jpg|80px]] || Terrence O'Donnell || October 30, 1989 – March 6, 1992 || rowspan="3" | Dick Cheney || rowspan="3" | George H. W. Bush
|-
| [[File:Portrait of C. Paul Beach, Jr.jpg|80px]] || [[C. Paul Beach Jr.]] {{small|(Acting)}} || March 7, 1992 – August 11, 1992
|-
| [[File:Portrait of David S. Addington, Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense.jpg|80px]] || [[David Addington]] || August 12, 1992 – January 20, 1993
|-
| [[File:Blank.svg|80px]] || [[John H. McNeil]] {{small|(Acting)}} || January 20, 1993 – May 5, 1993 || [[Les Aspin]] || rowspan="5" | [[Bill Clinton]]
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Jamie Gorelick, General Counsel, Department of Defense.jpg|80px]] || [[Jamie Gorelick]] || May 5, 1993 – March 17, 1994 || Lee Aspin<br>[[William J. Perry|William Perry]]
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Stephen W. Preston.jpg|80px]] || [[Stephen W. Preston]] {{small|(Acting)}} || March 28, 1994 – September 28, 1994 || William Perry
|-
| [[File:Judith Miller DoD.jpg|80px]] || [[Judith A. Miller]] || September 29, 1994 – November 7, 1999 || William Perry<br>[[William Cohen]]
|-
| [[File:Portrait of Douglas A. Dworkin.jpg|80px]] || [[Douglas A. Dworkin]] || November 7, 1999 – June 14, 2000 (Acting)<br>June 14, 2000 – January 19, 2001 || William Cohen
|-
| [[File:Portrait of William J. Haynes II.jpg|80px]] || [[William J. Haynes II]] || May 24, 2001 – February 26, 2008<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/pentagon_lawyer_to_leave_admin.html |title=Pentagon lawyer to leave administration: The Swamp |publisher=Swamppolitics.com |date=2008-02-26 |access-date=2012-08-05}}</ref>|| Donald Rumsfeld<br>[[Robert Gates]] || [[George W. Bush]]
|-
| [[File:Jeh Johnson official portrait 2011.jpg|80px]] || [[Jeh Johnson]] || February 10, 2009 – December 31, 2012 || Robert Gates<br>[[Leon Panetta]] || rowspan="5" | [[Barack Obama]]
|-
| [[File:Robert S. Taylor DoD.jpg|80px]] || Robert S. Taylor {{small|(Acting)}}<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/gc_bio.html |title=General Counsel Bio |publisher=Dod.gov |access-date=2013-07-04}}</ref>|| January 1, 2013 – October 25, 2013 || Leon Panetta<br>[[Chuck Hagel]]
|-
| [[File:Stephen W. Preston official photo.jpg|80px]] || [[Stephen W. Preston]] || October 25, 2013 – June 2015 || Chuck Hagel<br>[[Ashton Carter]]
|-
|[[File:Robert S. Taylor DoD.jpg|80px]]
|Robert S. Taylor {{small|(Acting)}}<ref name=":0" />
|June 2015 – June 14, 2016
|[[Ashton Carter]]
|-
| [[File:Jennifer M. O'Connor DoD.jpg|80px]]||[[Jennifer M. O'Connor]]|| June 14, 2016 – January, 20 2017 || [[Ashton Carter]]
|-
| [[File:William S. Castle official photo.jpg|80px]] || [[William S. Castle]] (Acting) || August 2017 – July 2018|| James Mattis
| rowspan="2" |[[Donald Trump]]
|-
| [[File:Paul C. Ney Jr. official photo.jpg|80px]] || [[Paul C. Ney Jr.]] ||August 20, 2018 – January 20, 2021||James Mattis<br/>[[Mark Esper]]<br/>[[Christopher C. Miller]] (acting)
|-
| [[File:Beth George.jpg|80px]] || Beth George {{small|(Acting)}} || January 20, 2021 – August 2, 2021 || [[David Norquist]] (acting)<br />[[Lloyd Austin]] || rowspan="2" | [[Joe Biden]]
|-
| [[File:Caroline Krass, DOD General Counsel.jpg|80px]] || [[Caroline Krass]] || August 2, 2021 – present|| [[Lloyd Austin]]
|}

==See also==
* [[General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force]]
* [[General Counsel of the Army]]
* [[General Counsel of the Navy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/ Official website]

{{US Department of Defense Secretaries}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Lawyers who have represented the United States government]]
[[Category:United States Department of Defense officials| ]]