General George Washington founded the U.S. Army JAG Corps on July 29th, 1775. Since then, the JAG Corps has played a key role in the events that shape our nation and our world while becoming one of our country's largest law firms, with more than 3,400 full- and part-time Attorneys. With such a rich history, it is no surprise that Army JAG Corps Attorneys have been prosecuting the "trials of the century" for centuries.

Between 1802 and 1849 the Judge Advocate position was suspended, but since reinstatement, the JAG Corps has continually grown in size and in the scope of its expertise and support. Arguably, the most fundamental achievement of the modern JAG Corps is the creation of the Uniform Military Code of Justice (UCMJ, 1951), which applies one consistent code of conduct across the entire U.S. military while providing important judicial safeguards.

The JAG Corps upholds the basic rules of conduct for our Soldiers'and also upholds the rule of law in the most important international cases. Judge Advocates made an example of the treacherous General Benedict Arnold; prosecuted Lincoln's Assassin; probed Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn; delivered justice for Nazi crimes at Nuremburg; and helped end the disastrous ethnic warfare in Bosnia by drafting the Dayton Peace Accord.

Military operations large and small have driven JAG Corps growth while continually presenting new challenges, roles and responsibilities. There were 15 Judge Advocate Officers during the Revolutionary War, and today, there are more than 3,400. Moving beyond the confines of internal military justice, Judge Advocates created the legal framework for the rebirth of Europe after World War II and helped to rebuild and heal a nation after the Bosnian War.

Sometimes the enemy isn't an armed opponent: it can be a force of nature, or the face of chaos. The JAG Corps has been actively involved in humanitarian aid, disaster relief, nation building and peace operations. In 1995, JAG Corps Attorneys helped to create a new Bosnian nation From the 1960s through the '90s, the JAG Corps undertook humanitarian and disaster relief missions from the Dominican Republic to Samoa to Central America.