Biography

National Guard Bureau

Mr. Charles Young

Chief Counsel

Office of the Chief Counsel

Mr. Charles Young currently serves as the Chief Counsel of the National Guard Bureau. 

He is the senior legal advisor to the Chief, National Guard Bureau (CNGB); Vice Chief, 

National Guard Bureau; and the Directors of the Army and Air National Guard. He also 

serves as their representative to officials throughout the Executive and Legislative 

branches of the Federal government including the Department of Defense, Department 

of the Army, Department of the Air Force, and the Judge Advocates General.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Young served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau’s 

Litigation and Employment Law Division. In that position, he defended the National 

Guard’s interests in all aspects of Department of Defense/National Guard operations and 

policies worldwide. He served as the National Guard’s legal subject matter expert on 

issues across the spectrum of National Guard matters, such as: the Constitutional, 

statutory, and regulatory authorities involved in the funding, organization, discipline, and 

utilization of the National Guard; the National Guard as a reserve component; the 

organization, functions, and relational authorities of the National Guard Bureau; the 

National Guard Technician Program; and the Active-Guard Reserve Program.

Mr. Young was originally commissioned in the United States Army in 1989 in the Aviation 

branch and served as an AH-64, Apache attack helicopter pilot and platoon leader. He 

was selected to attend law school at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of 

William and Mary under the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program. He continued to 

serve as an active-duty Army Judge Advocate until April 2005 when he transferred to the 

West Virginia Air National Guard and accepted an active duty position in the Office of the 

Chief Counsel, NGB. Since starting at NGB, Mr. Young has served as an administrative 

law attorney; litigation attorney; deployed in response to numerous hurricanes to include 

hurricane Katrina relief duties; deployed to Iraq to work Rule of Law issues for MultiNational Forces-Iraq; and assisted in the deployments for numerous border security 

missions. He received an active duty retirement in 2009 and has since served as an Air 

Force civilian attorney. He is married with two daughters and son who is a Second 

Lieutenant in the Army’s Aviation Branch.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY:

• Jun 2020 – Present: Chief Counsel, National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Virginia

• Apr 2005 – Jun 2020: Chief, Litigation and Employment Law Division, National 

Guard Bureau, Arlington, Virginia

• Jul 2002 – Apr 2005: Senior Litigation Attorney, Department of the Army, U.S.

Army Litigation Division, Arlington, Virginia

• Aug 2001 – Jul 2002: Student, 50th Graduate Course, United States Army Judge

Advocate General’s School, Charlottesville, Virginia

• Dec 1998 – Jun 2001: Senior Trial Counsel, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate,

Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, Wurzburg, Germany

• Jan 1998 – Dec 1998: Legal Assistance Attorney, Office of the Staff Judge

Advocate, HQ, 1st Infantry Division, Wurzburg, Germany

• Jun 1994 – Jan 1998: Student, Funded Legal Education Program; College of

William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, FLEP

• Sep 1989 – Jun 1994: Apache Attack Helicopter Pilot-Platoon Leader: 1-229th

Attack Helicopter Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas; Fort 

Bragg, North Carolina

EDUCATION:

• 2017 Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Executive Institute 

Leadership for a Democratic Society, Charlottesville, Virginia

• 2002 L.L.M., Military Law-Litigation, 50th Graduate Course, The judge 

Advocate General’s School and Legal Center, Charlottesville, Virginia

• 1997 Juris Doctorate, Marshal-Wythe School of Law, College of William and 

Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia

• 1994 Master of Arts, Management, Webster University, Saint Louis, Missouri

• 1989 Bachelor of Science, Economics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 

Tennessee

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Virginia State Bar

• Supreme Court of Virginia

• Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

• Supreme Court Bar

AWARDS AND HONORS:

His federal awards include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, Civilian Joint Service 

Commendation Medal, Air Force Civilian Achievement Medal, Defense Meritorious 

Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force 

Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, 

Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service 

Medal, and Humanitarian Service Medal. He is also entitled to wear the National Guard 

Bureau Staff Identification Badge.