Deputy Judge Advocate General, U.S. Air Force
Photo by U.S. Air Force.
By Samantha Cart. “Integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.”
These are the core values of the U.S. Air Force and the tenants by which Major General Jeffrey Rockwell lives his life.
A member of the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Rockwell currently serves as the deputy judge advocate general, a position to which he was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2014. In this prestigious role, he assists the judge advocate general in the professional oversight of more than 2,200 judge advocates, 350 civilian attorneys, 1,400 enlisted paralegals and 500 civilians worldwide. His responsibilities encompass a variety of issues, including military justice, international and civil law and the provision of legal advice to the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force.
“Being a military lawyer means you’ve raised your right hand to serve two professions—the profession of arms and the profession of law,” says Rockwell. “To serve the profession of arms, you need to live by the core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all you do. To serve the profession of law in the Air Force, you need to do so with wisdom, valor and justice. It sounds simple in the esoteric, but of course it can be difficult in execution given the size and scope of our national security missions. Fortunately, I’ve been given many opportunities to hone these core values and principles as an airman and JAG practicing in both professions for three decades with some of the best lawyers, leaders and airmen on the planet.”
With more than 660,000 total force airmen conducting operations across the globe, including active duty, Guard and reserves, Rockwell oversees legal issues encompassing every area of the law, from criminal justice and discipline to civil and international law.
“The scope of practice in a worldwide organization is the hard part,” he says. “The easy part comes with the quality of lawyers and paralegals we have to work cases and issues. Challenges are easily overcome when you get to work with the kind of airmen and families we have in our Air Force.”
As deputy JAG, Rockwell helps enhance the mission readiness and morale of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and their families by providing legal and tax assistance programs and ensuring all personal matters have been addressed. This often includes counseling families on common issues that arise during long deployment separations. In 2016 alone, JAGs saved military families nearly $29 million in legal fees by providing these services.
“When Iraq invaded Kuwait and operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm kicked off, my wife and I were newly married and assigned to an air base in northeastern Spain,” says Rockwell. “As troops poured through our base on their way to the Middle East, I was astounded by the number who didn’t have their legal affairs in order. We processed thousands of wills and powers of attorney, and it dawned on me then how deadly distractions like those involving personal legal affairs can be when you are going into harm’s way.”
Rockwell also works to implement career development plans for when service men and women return to civilian life; design and support important Air Force initiatives; protect government resources, procurements, investments and intellectual property rights; review military contracts; craft instructional documents for military training; and represent service members at formal hearings and appeals.
“Other areas of individual representation the JAG Corps provides our airmen include defense counsel and victim counsel services,” he says. “Like in other criminal justice systems, airmen accused of a crime or facing other adverse actions are entitled to zealous representation to protect their due process rights. Similarly, in a relatively new program to the military, victims of sexual assault are entitled to representation to ensure their voices are heard and rights are protected throughout the justice process.”
As part of his lifelong commitment to service of country, Rockwell has had several overseas assignments and significant leadership roles as chief counsel for major military installations around the world. He has lived on three different continents and relocated his family 15 times over the past 30 years, and he remains passionate about serving alongside his fellow service members.
“In terms of time, half of my career has been spent overseas, and in terms of location, I’ve probably been to more countries than I haven’t been to,” he says. “Service and country connotes team and being part of something that represents something bigger than oneself. As part of that team, every member has an important role in bridging disciplines, expertise, diversity of views and history. With regard to the last, as one of the elders in a force made up of much younger generations, I do have more of a historical perspective from serving during the Cold War, two Gulf Wars and in operations involving the Balkans, East Timor and Libya. Bridging this span of time, capturing lessons learned and evolving to the future is important. As for the practice of law itself, while time has given me experience to share and teach the law, the young airmen and JAGs have a lot to share and teach us elders about facts, particularly in an age of information and technology. There is also a bridging that occurs with practicing the art of law in a predominantly STEM organization like the Air Force. It’s fascinating to reconcile the differences in disciplines, approach and analytical thinking.”
Over the course of his career, Rockwell has authored various national security laws and articles, advancing Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. government interests in military justice, government liability for civilian use of global positioning systems, customary international law, European Union law, rule of law development in Romania, the solidarity movement in Poland, interagency legal capability for rule of law development and state building and the politics of strategic aircraft modernization. He also wrote several chapters in the DoD Law of War Manual, Army Operational Law Handbook and Air Force Operations and the Law Handbook.
Before becoming deputy JAG, he served as the senior legal advisor to the Air Force Special Operations Command, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Force Space Command—three of the 10 major Air Force command organizations. He has also served as the commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, which provides full-spectrum legal support to commands worldwide, including criminal justice and civil law litigation expertise, and legal education to the force through the judge advocate general’s school.
Rockwell has been highly decorated during his service, receiving awards and honors such as the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Department of State Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with four oak clusters and Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster. While he has clearly carved out a successful career, he maintains that the success has little to do with him personally.
“Before I joined the greatest Air Force in the world 30 years ago, I attended the greatest university in the world for seven years. Before that, I was raised by the greatest parents, grandparents and family in the world. Along the way, I married the greatest woman in the world, and we had the two greatest children in the world,” he says. “I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s thesis in his book, ‘Outliers,’ positing that environment, opportunity and mentoring lead to individual success. Any success I’ve experienced has little to do with me individually. It’s the environment I’m blessed to be part of, provided by my family, my education and the organization and service I belong to.”
While he has traveled the world and currently resides in Washington, D.C., Rockwell is still loyal to his alma mater, West Virginia University (WVU), where he received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and his Juris Doctor from the WVU College of Law. He also earned master’s degrees in air and space law from McGill University in Montreal and national security studies from the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C.
“McGill and NDU are fantastic institutions, but I would have attended WVU for all of my formal education if I could have,” he says. “I’m a Mountaineer through and through. My wife and I are from southwest Pennsylvania, about 25 miles from Morgantown. We’re both Mountaineers, and we’ll always be Mountaineers.”
