Don’t panic: Military legal reforms are long overdue

OPINION:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is right: The Department of Defense is long overdue for revitalization. The military exists to fight and win wars, not to serve as a bloated bureaucracy or social engineering experiment. His vision is a leaner, more lethal force that cuts the bureaucracy and refocuses on the warrior ethos. That spirit of reform must reach the Judge Advocate General’s Corps that supports it.

Shattering the status quo

The secretary’s bold decision to replace the top service lawyers and open nominations beyond a small group of insulated officers at the top has sent shock waves through the military.

This isn’t just a leadership shuffle; it’s a paradigm shift. These moves make clear that the status quo is no longer viable. This shift is just the beginning, with turnover at the top foreshadowing a deeper transformation in how the JAG Corps operates. Resistance to change is natural, especially when respected leaders are suddenly dismissed. However, these reforms need not sideline the law or shut out the lawyers. The American public entrusts the military with extraordinary power and deserves confidence that JAGs provide independent, principled guidance. A leaner, faster and operationally attuned JAG Corps can enhance the profession’s integrity and strengthen trust in legal advice.

Putting the law first

Critics of Mr. Hegseth’s actions pine for some recent past of supposedly “apolitical lawyering.” When was this golden era?

Recent years have revealed how political narratives persistently push JAGs into dubious policy debates, including their pursuit of legally questionable sexual assault cases and glossing over religious liberties in enforcing broad vaccine mandates. When JAGs are seen as partisan collaborators or mere bureaucratic rubber stamps, it erodes faith in the corps and the military it serves. A truly independent JAG Corps does not reflexively implement shifting partisan political agendas. It upholds the Constitution, applies the law with integrity and ensures commanders can execute their missions without improper interference.

A weapon, not a weight

The JAG Corps should be a weapon for commanders, not a weight around their necks. At our best, JAGs are the military’s preeminent problem solvers, bringing an enterprise-level perspective and cross-domain understanding of every aspect of the mission. Our edge is dulled when we are busy implementing ideological initiatives, overloaded with administrative tasks, and relegated to being bureaucratic compliance officers.

This has led some to lose trust in JAGs, perceived as obstacles rather than enablers of mission success. Too many people, too many processes, too much red tape. A streamlined and refocused JAG Corps must clear the path to mission success, not throw up roadblocks.

Seizing the moment

This is a defining moment for the military and the JAG Corps.

The secretary has thrown open the door for bold reform, and now it is up to us to walk through it. That means cutting the layers of bureaucratic micromanagement, eliminating unnecessary compliance tasks, returning nonlegal functions to their proper career fields, and rightsizing the force.

It means a refocusing on the law: Let the JAGs be lawyers again, anchored by constitutional principles, not adrift with shifting political winds. Our job is not to perpetuate the mistakes of the past but to ensure the military is ready to meet the challenges of the future. We can either cling to outdated structures or seize this opportunity to build a stronger, more effective legal force that is uncompromising in integrity and fearless in execution.

• Christopher T. Stein is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and a career military lawyer with 10 assignments at all levels of command across Afghanistan, Europe, the Indo-Pacific and the American homeland. The views expressed are his own and do not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Air Force or the U.S. government.