| General Counsel of the Department of Defense | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Office of General Counsel | |
 Flag of the general counsel[1] | |
 | |
| Department of Defense Office of the Secretary | |
| Style | The Honorable |
| Reports to | Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense |
| Seat | The Pentagon,Arlington County,Virginia, United States |
| Appointer | Thepresident withSenateadvice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 140 |
| Precursor | Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legal and Legislative Affairs |
| Formation | 1953 |
| First holder | H. Struve Hensel |
| Deputy | Principal Deputy General Counsel |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, level IV[2] |
| Website | ogc.osd.mil |
Thegeneral counsel of the Department of Defense is thechief legal officer of theDepartment of Defense (DoD), advising both thesecretary anddeputy secretary on all legal matters and services, and providing legal advice toOffice of the Secretary of Defense organizations and, as appropriate, other DOD components.
The general counsel develops the department's legislative program and coordinates DoD positions on legislation and executive orders; coordinates the appeals process for deniedFOIA requests; oversees the performance and standards of DoD attorneys; establishes policy on general legal issues and determines the DoD position on specific legal problems; maintains repository for all international agreements coordinated, negotiated, or concluded by DoD personnel; and is "dual-hatted" as director of theDefense Legal Services Agency.
This position was established by Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1953 and by Defense Directive 5145.1, signed 24 August 1953. The position derived its responsibilities from one of the original three special assistants to the secretary (established in 1947) and theassistant secretary of defense (legal and legislative affairs) (established in 1949).[3]
The Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) is an element of the Defense Legal Services Agency within the Office of General Counsel.[4]
| Image | Name | Tenure | SecDef(s) served under | President(s) served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | H. Struve Hensel | August 17, 1953 – March 4, 1954 | Charles Erwin Wilson | Dwight Eisenhower |
.jpg) | Wilber M. Brucker | April 23, 1954 – July 20, 1955 | ||
 | Mansfield D. Sprague | October 6, 1955 – February 27, 1957 | ||
| Robert Dechert | February 28, 1957 – July 15, 1959 | Charles Erwin Wilson Neil H. McElroy | |
| J. Vincent Burke Jr. | September 14, 1959 – January 20, 1961 | Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates | |
 | Cyrus Vance | January 29, 1961 – June 30, 1962 | Robert S. McNamara | John F. Kennedy |
.jpg) | John McNaughton | July 5, 1962 – June 25, 1964 | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | July 1, 1964 – September 19, 1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
.jpg) | Paul Warnke | October 3, 1966 – July 31, 1967 | ||
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | August 1, 1967 – August 20, 1970 | Robert S. McNamara Clark Clifford Melvin Laird | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
.jpg) | J. Fred Buzhardt | August 20, 1970 – January 4, 1974 | Melvin Laird Elliot Richardson James R. Schlesinger | Richard Nixon |
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | May 22, 1973 – March 13, 1974 | James R. Schlesinger | |
 | Martin Richard Hoffmann | March 14, 1974 – August 5, 1975 | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford | |
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | August 6, 1975 – January 1, 1976 | James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld | Gerald Ford |
| Richard A. Wiley | January 2, 1976 – January 15, 1977 | Donald Rumsfeld | |
| Deanne C. Siemer | April 28, 1977 – October 15, 1979 | Harold Brown | Jimmy Carter |
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | October 15, 1979 – February 1, 1980 | ||
 | Togo D. West Jr. | February 1, 1980 – January 20, 1981 | ||
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | January 20, 1981 – April 1, 1981 | Caspar Weinberger | Ronald Reagan |
 | William Howard Taft IV | April 2, 1981 – May 2, 1984 | ||
 | Chapman B. Cox | May 3, 1984 – December 16, 1985 | ||
 | Henry L. Garrett III | February 5, 1986 – August 6, 1987 | ||
| Leonard Niederlehner(Acting) | August 7, 1987 – October 25, 1987 | ||
.jpg) | Kathleen A. Buck | October 26, 1987 – December 30, 1989 | Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci William Howard Taft IV Dick Cheney | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
 | Terrence O'Donnell | October 30, 1989 – March 6, 1992 | Dick Cheney | George H. W. Bush |
 | C. Paul Beach Jr.(Acting) | March 7, 1992 – August 11, 1992 | ||
 | David Addington | August 12, 1992 – January 20, 1993 | ||
| John H. McNeil(Acting) | January 20, 1993 – May 5, 1993 | Les Aspin | Bill Clinton |
 | Jamie Gorelick | May 5, 1993 – March 17, 1994 | Lee Aspin William Perry | |
 | Stephen W. Preston(Acting) | March 28, 1994 – September 28, 1994 | William Perry | |
 | Judith A. Miller | September 29, 1994 – November 7, 1999 | William Perry William Cohen | |
 | Douglas A. Dworkin | November 7, 1999 – June 14, 2000 (Acting) June 14, 2000 – January 19, 2001 | William Cohen | |
 | William J. Haynes II | May 24, 2001 – February 26, 2008[5] | Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates | George W. Bush |
 | Jeh Johnson | February 10, 2009 – December 31, 2012 | Robert Gates Leon Panetta | Barack Obama |
 | Robert S. Taylor(Acting)[6] | January 1, 2013 – October 25, 2013 | Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel | |
 | Stephen W. Preston | October 25, 2013 – June 1, 2015 | Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter | |
| Robert S. Taylor(Acting)[6] | June 1, 2015 – June 14, 2016 | Ashton Carter | |
 | Jennifer M. O'Connor | June 14, 2016 – January, 20 2017 | Ashton Carter | |
 | William S. Castle (Acting) | August 2017 – August 20, 2018[7] | James Mattis | Donald Trump |
 | Paul C. Ney Jr. | August 20, 2018 – January 20, 2021 | James Mattis Mark Esper Christopher C. Miller (acting) | |
 | Beth George(Acting) | January 20, 2021 – August 2, 2021 | David Norquist (acting) Lloyd Austin | Joe Biden |
 | Caroline Krass | August 2, 2021 – January 20, 2025 | Lloyd Austin | |
.jpg) | Charles L. Young III (acting) | January 20, 2025 – July 31, 2025 | Pete Hegseth | Donald Trump |
| Earl G. Matthews | July 31, 2025 –Present |
