Major General Reginald C. Harmon

US Air Force Military Biographies, Annual, 2004

General Harmon was of the opinion that, in order for these publications to be of practical use to interested personnel, it was essential that, editorially, both the composition, format, and general arrangement follow standard legal publications, and that they be keyed into standard reference material. Accordingly, the services of the Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company of Rochester, N.Y., were obtained for these publications. This was the first time that a system of this kind had been established in the military service. It has proven very successful and has promoted the interservice application of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other aspects of military law.

Ever mindful that the quality of legal research is directly proportionate to availability of adequate research materials, General Harmon has always given high priority to procurement of law books, reports and other legal pub1ications. He also effectively supplements this program by maintaining a staff of experienced legal writers in his own office who devote their time and talents to the production of essential legal publications covering specialized fields of military law. The law libraries in Air Force judge advocate offices throughout the world in many instances now far exceed the available legal research material of most private practitioners. In practice, the accessibility of such adequate legal publications in these JAG libraries assures General Harmon and the Air Force that opinions written by Air Force lawyers are competent and complete treatises of applicable law.

Speaker and Writer

A speaker of considerable note, General Harmon has delivered more than 125 major speeches during the past five years. He personally writes most of his speeches. Presently, he delivers an average of one speech every two weeks. He is frequently nominated to represent the U.S. Air Force at official functions. As the chief legal officer of the Air Force, he takes particular pride in addressing professional groups. Illustrative of these presentations is a speech delivered Feb. 15, 1958, at Colorado Springs, Colo., before the Judicial Conference of the Tenth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. This meeting included the federal judges and many of the judges of the supreme courts of the Rocky Mountain and Southwestern States, as well as a large number of the distinguished members of the bar of that area. Other speeches include those before the Federal Bar Association and the regional conventions of the American Bar Association in Chicago, New York and Dallas. He has also spoken before the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. In 1952, he spoke at the dedication of the law center at Southern Methodist University.

Being a military lawyer, most of his writings have been for military-type publications. Typical are those he has written for The Judge Advocate Journal, published by The Judge Advocates Association. This association is an affiliate organization of the American Bar Association, composed of 1awyers of all components of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Also, he has written legal articles for publications by the active Armed Forces, such as The JAG Journal, published by the Office of The Judge Advocate General of the Navy. He has written articles for some law school journals concerning the lawyer's role in defense. During his tenure as the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, he has written many articles for various state and local bar associations.