United States Air Force Judge Advocate General ' s Corps The Judge Advocate General ' s Corps also known as the " JAG Corps " or " JAG " is the legal arm of the United States Air Force . History . The United States Air Force became a separate military service in September 1947 . On 25 June 1948 , the Congress established an office of The Judge Advocate General ( TJAG ) in the United States Air Force . On 8 July 1949 , the Air Force Chief of Staff designated 205 attorneys Air Force Judge Advocates . Thus , ironically , there were Air Force Judge Advocates three months before there was an Air Force Judge Advocate General . Following the promulgation of enabling legislation , the Air Force Judge Advocate General ' s Department was established on January 25 , 1949 by Department of the Air Force General Order No . 7 ( as amended by General Order No . 17 , 15 May 1949 ) . While this event was clearly the birth of the Department , it really represented an interim step , providing the Air Force authority to administer its military justice system within the existing Air Force structure of the time until other legislation ( what became the Uniform Code of Military Justice ) could be developed and enacted . The department was originally a part of the Air Force Personnel Branch , but became a separate entity reporting directly to the Air Force Chief of Staff in February 1950 . The first Air Force judge advocate general , Major General Reginald C . Harmon , believed it important for Air Force JAGs to remain a part of a functionally interconnected military department . For that reason , the concept of a separate corps was discarded in favor of the department that existed until 2003 . In 2003 , the Judge Advocate General ' s Department was renamed to the Judge Advocate General ' s Corps by order of the Secretary of the Air Force , Dr . James G . Roche . In December 2004 , the Air Force Judge Advocate General , Thomas J . Fiscus , accepted non - judicial punishment under Article 15 of the UCMJ , for conduct unbecoming of an officer and obstruction of justice related to numerous unprofessional sexual relationships with subordinates . Upon his retirement , Fiscus was reduced two grades , to colonel . Major General Jack Rives , the Deputy Judge Advocate General , became the Air Force Judge Advocate General as of February 2006 . On 23 July 2008 , General Rives was confirmed as a Lieutenant General , becoming the first TJAG to hold that rank . On 15 December 2009 , the President nominated Brigadier General Richard C . Harding to serve as the 16th Judge Advocate General . On 2 February 2010 , the Senate Armed Services Committee endorsed the nomination and the Senate voted to confirm the nomination . Lieutenant General Rives retired on 5 February 2010 , accepting the position of Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association , and now - Lieutenant General Richard Harding became The 16th Judge Advocate General of the Air Force . His formal investiture and promotion ceremony occurred on 23 February 2010 . General Harding ' s term as The Judge Advocate General ended on 31 January 2014 . JAG School . The Air Force Judge Advocate General ' s School was founded in 1950 and has been located in the William Louis Dickinson Law Center , at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery , Alabama since 1993 . The school provides instruction to new judge advocates and paralegals , in addition to offering approximately 30 continuing legal education courses . The School publishes scholarly legal journals such as " The Air Force Law Review " , semiannually and " The Reporter " , quarterly . The School also produces " The Military Commander and the Law " , a publication that is invaluable not only to judge advocates , but commanders and first sergeants in handling the myriad of legal issues that arise with a squadron or wing , and for the continued enforcement of good order and discipline .