Major General Reginald C. Harmon

US Air Force Military Biographies, Annual, 2004

The general's tenure as the judge advocate general has been marked with the philosophy of maximum service with maximum economy. Placing a premium on initiative, resourcefulness and industry, he set out in 1948 with a small nucleus of officer-lawyers and civilian attorneys. He developed for the Air Force and the nation an unexcelled legal department of some 1,300 highly trained and qualified judge advocates.

Initially, he personally selected and assigned outstanding and experienced personnel to ensure that only the highest caliber judge advocates were assigned to key legal positions in the world-wide Air Force operational network. To this framework he added young law graduates from the leading universities of the country. The high professional reputation enjoyed by the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Department reflects the soundness of General Harmon's selection of his judge advocate personnel.

General Harmon's desire to maintain the highest professional standards for his new department prompted his early affiliations with the leading professional groups of the nation. He encouraged his staff and all members of his department to join and participate in the activities of the American Bar Association, Judge Advocates Association, Federal Bar Association, and state and local bar associations. He personally accepted the chairmanship of several committees of bar associations which are dedicated to improvement of relations between the military and civilian community. Illustrative of this leadership is the fact that General Harmon was chairman of the General Counsel's Group of the Federal Bar Association for the 1957-58 season which includes the chiefs of legal departments of the 45 agencies of the government.

As the judge advocate general of the Air Force, General Harmon currently supervises a force of approximately 1,200 lawyers, and more than 1,600 nonlawyers who are assigned to more than 400 different legal offices throughout the world. He is also the legal adviser to the chief of staff, U.S. Air Force, and his staff. By federal statute, he exercises general supervision over the administration of military justice within the Air Force. During a normal year, the Air Force will prosecute in the name of the United States more criminal cases (about 36,500 per year) than are filed by the attorney general in the U.S. district courts. This tremendous responsibility in the field of criminal law is equaled, if not surpassed, by the many facets of General Harmon's civil law responsibilities - claims, military affairs, patents, 1itigation, international law and procurement counseling.

Air Force Judge Advocate General's School

The general always maintained an active interest in the field of legal education, addressing student groups, taking part in seminars on legal education (military and civilian) and maintaining close association in advisory capacities with committees on legal education. In 1950, he established the first Air Force Judge Advocate General's School at the Air University, Montgomery, Ala., designed to indoctrinate young officer-lawyers in the performance of judge advocate functions. Under his personal direction, a curriculum comparable to a civilian law school was developed covering major fields of law which members of the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Department are required to know. This school found its justification and fulfillment during the Korean Conflict when it produced the large number of trained military lawyers required to meet the wartime mission. Also, the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School produced the experienced lawyers that presently administer the system of military justice in the Air Force. They represent the staff judge advocates of tomorrow's Air Force commands.