One of the first big administrative things the Trump team did upon taking office a second time was the massive firing and demotion of JAG officers. JAG, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, is the long-time legal arm of the United States Navy. Though it is still reportedly not back up to full strength, when completely staffed, the JAG Corps represents a worldwide body of more than 1,500 commissioned officers serving as judge advocates and attorneys, and close to 700 civilian personnel, serving under the command of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General.
With the latest news of the navy killing civilians traveling in motor boats, and the potential of at least one major military trial related to several such incidences, the image of JAG back at work (with the memory of Jack Nicholson yelling at Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men,” ‘You can’t handle the truth !!!,’ seems very probable indeed.
No, it won’t be U.S. Senator Mark Kelly being dragged back into the navy to be court martialed by a JAG officer appointed by the Trump people. Yes, that has been threatened by those used to bullying people, but it is against the law for the Trump administration to try and drag a sitting member of Congress back into the U.S. military service, and the Supreme Court will not allow it. Instead, the JAG officer may very well be prosecuting Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense (War) for giving the order to kill every human being found on another so-called drug speedboat in open water, even after the boat was blown up and any survivors were merely trying to stay afloat in the ocean. They posed absolutely no threat to the U.S. vessels in the area.
According to the law quoted by Senator Kelly and several other congress members — the Uniform Code of Military Justice — in a televised presentation last week, enlisted personnel and officers must disobey illegal orders given by superior officers. Apparently Pete Hegseth gave the order to kill everybody associated with the speedboat, including those who became swimmers.
In other words, the Secretary of Defense may very well find himself soon in a military courtroom being tried for a military felony, punishable by a prison sentence. Trump has already started saying that he knows nothing about any of it.
Now wouldn’t that be a big, hairy pimple on the nose of the Trump administration? And wouldn’t it serve them right? Let’s hope.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.