On today’s episode, Mr. Fred L. Borch* and Major Jason C. Coffey discuss Judge Advocates in the Great War, covering the pre-World War I Judge Advocate General’s Corps, its expansion after the United States entered the war, Judge Advocate training, and the duties Judge Advocates performed during the war.

Below is a timeline of some of the subject-areas discussed during the episode:

00:00 Episode Introduction

00:59 Pre-World War I Judge Advocate General’s Corps

02:34 The Expansion of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps

04:00 The First 25 and Incremental Expansion

05:58 Judge Advocate Duties in the United States

08:39 Military Justice Agreements in World War I

11:09 Other Legal Issues Judge Advocates Faced

18:29 Social Changes in the Judge Advocate General’s Department

21:15 Judge Advocate Education and Training

24:35 Book Recommendations

28:58 End of Episode


Mr. Borch’s Book Recommendations:

Fred L. Borch. “Judge Advocates in the Great War”. The Army Lawyer, November/December 2018, pages 10-18. Book version expected Spring 2021.
“To Raise and Discipline an Army” by Joshua E. Kastenberg.
“The New Wilderness” by Diane Cook.
“They Shall Not Grow Old” by Peter Jackson.
“1917” by Sam Mendes

For more information related to FCD you can follow us on Twitter @jagfcd or by visiting our webpage. If you have recommendations or suggestions about future topics or guests, please send us an email at [email protected], or you can leave us a comment by signing in below. Finally, if you like what you hear, please leave us a review on iTunes and subscribe to “Battlefield Next” on your favorite podcast app. While this is a podcast created by US Army Judge Advocates from Future Concepts Directorate, our goal is to reach other judge advocates and lawyers across the DoD, law students, and members of academia. Your reviews help make this possible.

For more information about the US Army JAG Corps, you can go here. If you’re interested in joining the Army JAG Corps, you can get more information by contacting the Judge Advocate Recruiting Office (JARO) or by visiting their webpage.

*Mr. Borch is a professor of Legal History and Leadership at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, and the Regimental Historian and Archivist for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

**Music by Joseph McDade.

***The views expressed on the podcast are the views of the participants and do not necessarily represent those of The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, the Army, the Department of Defense, or any other agency of the US Government.