Top Army attorney visits his starting point

By Mr. Charles K Stadtlander (IMCOM)February 2, 2011

Top Army attorney visits his starting point
Lt. Gen. Dana K. Chipman, the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army, talks to Capt. Micah Davis, current trial counsel at the Schweinfurt Legal Center during the General's visit to Schweinfurt Jan. 27. Chipman's first duty station as a judge advoca... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SCHWEINFURT, Germany-Though Soldiers and their families are all familiar with JAGs-the lawyers that serve as prosecutors, defenders, judges, advisors and advocates for the military community-the term is often misused. The many attorneys that servicemembers regularly do business with are officially only known as Judge Advocates. There is only one Judge Advocate General in all of the U.S. Army, a position currently held by Lt. Gen. Dana Chipman.

On Jan. 27, Lt. Gen. Chipman, known as TJAG and the head of all attorneys in the Army, visited the garrison here in a journey that turned up old memories and familiar friends. His presence was a rare honor for Schweinfurt's legal team, as the JAG Corps only has six general officers. Chipman's first duty station as a judge advocate was in Schweinfurt, where he served as a young captain from 1987 to 1990.

"This is my first time back in 20 years," mused Chipman. "I don't remember the hallway being this long."

Sgt. Vance Tibbets, NCO in charge of the legal center here, has been an Army paralegal for nearly 10 years. "In our MOS, it isn't often you see a guy with stars on his chest walking around," said Tibbets. "I made sure my new privates here knew how big a deal this was." Tibbets' current office is the same room where Chipman served as a trial counsel for three years.

In the courtroom of the Schweinfurt legal center, Chipman greeted several current German civilian employees who Chipman worked with over twenty years prior. He presented two of these former colleagues, Gerti Mathis and Regine Stinson, with civilian achievement medals for their longtime service. Lt. Gen. Chipman embraced each of the women like the old friends they were, and for the rest of his visit to the office traded stories and memories about his times working in Schweinfurt.

Lt. Gen. Chipman told a grave story about a murder suspect he prosecuted in that very room, asked about surrounding villages to see if they were how he remembered and also expressed jealousy toward the current legal staff for getting to live in Germany during the 21st century.

"When I was here, we only had one AFN channel," he said jokingly. "We just had to live with it. You have access to so much more information now."

TJAG, who works out of the Pentagon, was traveling through Europe as part of his periodic inspection and assessment of U.S. Army legal centers. The Schweinfurt legal center operates under the command of the Joint Multinational Training Command, headquartered in Grafenwoehr, where TJAG was headed on his trip.

Related Links:

Installation Management Command - Europe

U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt