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Panel to look at JAG manning levels

Congress wants to create a panel of outside experts to consider whether the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps has enough lawyers.

A requirement for the new panel was written into this year’s defense authorization bill, which is nearing final approval on Capitol Hill.

The panel also will consider whether the JAG office has enough authority over manning issues and “determine whether additional authority for the Judge Advocate General over manpower policies and assignments of judge advocates in the Navy and Marine Corps is warranted,” according to the bill.

The JAG Corps has expanded its mission in recent years, providing legal advice to deployed troops as well as sending lawyers to the Middle East to advise Iraqis and Afghans creating new legal systems.

The size of the JAG Corps — about 700 attorneys — has remained essentially unchanged since 2001.

The JAG Corps has seen applications from law students triple during the past few years as the economy has lagged and JAG recruiting efforts have expanded — especially among minority candidates.

Lawmakers said the panel will include military experts appointed by the secretary of defense and will provide a report about four months after its first meeting.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Judge Advocate General said Navy officials will assist the panel.

“We are very proud of the support that Navy and Marine Corps judge advocates provide to our nation, and to the department’s Marines and sailors,” said the spokeswoman, Jennifer Zeldis. “We would welcome the opportunity to tell such an independent panel about the work done by the Navy JAG and Marine Corps team.”