Read Any Good (Professional) Books Lately?: A Suggested Professional Reading Program for Judge Advocates

• Author: Jeff Bovarnick
• Position: Judge Advocate, U.S. Army
• Pages: 260-342

260 MILITARY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 204

READ ANY GOOD (PROFESSIONAL) BOOKS LATELY?:

A SUGGESTED PROFESSIONAL READING PROGRAM FOR

JUDGE ADVOCATES

LIEUTENANT COLONEL JEFF BOVARNICK∗

I challenge all leaders to make a

focused, personal commitment to read,

reflect, and learn about our profession

and our world. Through the exercise of

our minds, our Army will grow

stronger.1

∗ Judge Advocate, U.S. Army. Presently assigned as Professor and Chair International &

Operational Law Department, The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School

(TJAGLCS), U.S. Army, Charlottesville, Virginia. LL.M., 2002, TJAGLCS,

Charlottesville, Virginia; J.D., 1992, New England School of Law; B.B.A., 1988,

University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Previous assignments include: Chief,

Investigative Judge Team, Law and Order Task Force, Forward Operating Base Shield,

Baghdad, Iraq, 2008–2009; Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, 1st Infantry Division, Fort

Riley, Kansas, 2006–2008; Student, Command and General Staff College, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas, 2005–2006; Chief, Military Justice, 82d Airborne Division, Fort

Bragg, North Carolina, 2003–2005; Chief, Operational Law, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort

Bragg, North Carolina, and Combined Joint Task Force 180, Bagram, Afghanistan,

2002–2003; Student, 50th Graduate Course, 2001–2002; Chief, Criminal Law Division &

Chief, Client Services Division, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 1999–2001;

Observer/Controller, Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1998;

Defense Counsel, Fort Bragg Field Office, U.S. Army Trial Defense Service, Fort Bragg,

North Carolina, 1996–1997; Trial Counsel and Chief, Operational Law, 101st Airborne

Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 1993–1996; Member of the bars of

Massachusetts, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the Supreme Court of the

United States. Previous publications: Jeff Bovarnick, Comment, Perpich v. United

States Department of Defense , Who’s in Charge of the National Guard?, 26 NEW ENG.

L. REV. 453 (1991); Major Jeff A. Bovarnick & Captain Jackie Thompson, Trying to

Remain Sane Trying an Insanity Case: United States v. Captain Thomas S. Payne, ARMY

LAW., June 2002, at 13; Major Jeff A. Bovarnick, Can a Commander Authorize Searches

& Seizures in Privatized Housing Areas? 181 MIL. L. REV. 1 (2004); Lieutenant Colonel

Jeff Bovarnick, Detainee Review Boards in Afghanistan: From Strategic Liability to

Legitimacy, ARMY LAW., June 2010, at 9; Jeff Bovarnick, Book Note, The War on Terror

and the Laws of War: A Military Perspective, 44 NEW ENG. L. REV. 885 (2010).

1 U.S. ARMY CTR. OF MILITARY HISTORY, CMH PUB. 105-1-1, U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF

STAFF’S PROFESSIONAL READING LIST, at 2 (2004), http://www.history.army.mil/brochure

s/csareadinglist.pdf (quoting General Peter J. Schoomaker, former Army Chief of Staff).

2010] PROFESSIONAL READING PROGRAM 261

I. Introduction: You Never Know Who May Ask You What You Are

Reading

In the fall of 2005, this author and other students attending

Command and General Staff College (CGSC)2 at Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas, were summoned to meet their new Commandant and

Commanding General (CG)3 —during a run.4 Each student ran alongside

the CG for a few minutes to tell him what they liked and disliked about

the course, and any recommendations they had for change. Another

interesting topic came after the run, dips, and pull-ups while we were

stretching as a group. The CG said we would go around the circle and

each student would name the book they were currently reading, what it

was about, and whether they recommended it for others to read. A big

caveat was that the book could not be assigned reading from the course.

As we went around the group of a dozen majors, it became apparent

many of my non-lawyer classmates neglected the professional

extracurricular reading envisioned by the CG. When we were done, the

CG discussed the importance of reading on a wide range of subjects for

officers in the profession of arms. While I have always been an avid

reader,5 it still made a lasting impression on me to hear that

admonishment from the CG in that setting.

2 The year-long course is now called ILE/AOWC (Intermediate Level

Education/Advanced Operations War fighting Course). See PERSONNEL, PLANS &

TRAINING OFFICE, JAG PUB. 1-1, JAGC PERSONNEL AND ACTIVITY DIRECTORY AND

PERSONNEL POLICIES 60 (2009–10).

3 The Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, is dual-hatted as the

Commandant, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas. For an example of the dual-status command position, see Lieutenant General

Robert L. Caslen, Jr., available at http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/Repository/Bios/Caslen

Bio.pdf (last visited May 10, 2010).

4 The aide’s e-mail required twelve students per morning to run with the CG until the list,

organized alphabetically, was exhausted. Interestingly, there was no mention of the

distance or pace—a concern of many students who knew the CG had run the Army ten-

miler in less than sixty minutes. See RICK ATKINSON, IN THE COMPANY OF SOLDIERS—A

CHRONICLE OF COMBAT 37 (2005).

5 Fortunately, I had just completed April 1865: The Month That Saved America, and I

strongly recommended it to the group. Although not as recognized as July 1776 or

September 2001, as the subtitle indicates, April 1865 is one of the most important months

in our nation’s history. In this well-researched book, the author details the events leading

up to and including two well-known historical events: General Robert E. Lee’s surrender

to General Ulysses S. Grant on 9 April 1865 at Wilmer McLean’s house in the town of

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, and then five days later, on 14 April 1865, the

assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth as the President

262 MILITARY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 204

General David Petraeus’s6 point about professional reading is shared

by many senior leaders, to include The Judge Advocate General (TJAG)

of the Army, the Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Air Force, the Chief of

Naval Operations, the Commandants of the Marines and Coast Guard,

and the Commandants of numerous military educational institutions.7

Military officers have a responsibility to read as a matter of professional

development. As part of their daily jobs, most judge advocates read a

lot. From regulations and professional journals to court and other legal

opinions, judge advocates, perhaps more than any other occupational

specialty, have an inherent professional obligation to research issues to

ensure they provide sound advice to their commanders or clients. This

article adopts a broader approach to professional reading.

The Challenge

Military members are busy—with their jobs, families, social lives,

and exercise. In addition to the “required” reading noted above, there are

other categories of reading (such as daily reading to keep abreast of

current events, reading for relaxation, or reading to children as a parental

activity), all of which leave little time for the extracurricular reading

discussed here. Despite the challenge of finding time, there are few, if

any, valid excuses that totally absolve a judge advocate from the

professional responsibility to read.8 Admittedly, a suggestion to read

every day is unrealistic for many due to outside demands, but reading a

chapter or two a week is within the realm of possibility for even the

busiest people. Judge advocates who have been less than diligent must

find time for professional reading. Additionally, senior judge advocates

should devise programs to guide their subordinates through a

watched the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. JAY

WINIK, APRIL 1865: THE MONTH THAT SAVED AMERICA 165–89, 253–58 (2001).

6 Then-Lieutenant General Petraeus served as the Commandant at the Command and

General Staff College from October 2005 until his selection as the Commander, Multi-

National Forces, Iraq, and promotion to General (Jan. 2007–Sept. 2008). See also DAVID

CLOUD & GREG JAFFE, THE FOURTH STAR: FOUR GENERALS AND THE EPIC STRUGGLE FOR

THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY 217 (2009). On 31 October 2008, General

Petraeus assumed command of U.S. Central Command. See U.S. Central Command,

U.S. CENTCOM Leadership, available at http://www.centcom.mil/en/about-centcom/

leadership/ (last visited May 12, 2010).

7 See infra notes 87–88 and accompanying text.

8 In this article, “reading” includes listening to unabridged audiobooks. With thousands

of titles available from numerous sources and multiple ways to listen, audiobooks provide

the “reader” additional opportunities for professional development.