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Air Force’s Acting Top Lawyer Steps Down. Leaving Service Without Permanent JAG
Air Force’s acting top lawyer, Maj. Gen. Rebecca Vernon, has stepped down eight months after replacing his fired predecessor. Leaving the service without a permanent judge advocate general.
Col. Rebecca Vernon receives the Stuart R. Reichart Award for Lawyers during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Md., Sept. 16, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by Andy Morataya)
Eight months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Air Force’s top lawyer, the judge advocate general tasked with those duties has stepped down. Leaving the service without a permanent legal chief.
Maj. Gen. Rebecca Vernon, who had served as deputy Air Force JAG since 2022, became acting JAG after Hegseth’s February 21 announcement that he was firing Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer. Vernon’s last day on the job was Sunday. While her retirement date is set for January 1, 2026, Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said.
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Vernon, who joined the Air Force in 1996, has received multiple awards and decorations for her service and legal expertise. Including the 2019 Air Force Association’s award for outstanding senior judge attorney, according to her service biography.
Reached by phone, Vernon declined to comment on her departure.
For now, the role of acting Air Force JAG will be handled by Maj. Gen. Mitchel Neurock, who served as Vernon’s and Plummer’s mobilization assistant. Neurock was appointed by Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, Stefanek said in an emailed statement.
The judge advocate general of each military service known as TJAG must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A former Air Force lawyer said the absence of a Senate-confirmed TJAG leaves the branch’s legal officers in limbo.
“It’s tough to make any long-term plans without that position filled,” the lawyer said. “We’re in the middle of assignment season and the TJAG makes those decisions. There’s a ripple effect throughout the (JAG) Corps that hurts morale, retention, budgets, hiring, and every major policy decision.
The Pentagon Is also short on other legal personnel. With several lower-level lawyers being temporarily assigned to the Justice Department to serve as immigration judges. This move has raised concerns among legal experts. Margy O’Herron, a senior fellow in the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, wrote in September that the administration’s plan will pull JAGs “away from the important work they are trained and assigned to do, risking military readiness.”
Earlier this year, Hegseth said he fired the Air Force and Army TJAGs because they were “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander in chief.”
JAGs often provide guidance to commanders on U.S. and international law relevant to military operations. John Richardson, a retired Navy officer and former chief of naval operations, praised their expertise at a Center for a New American Security event earlier this month.
“I always wanted to have a very professional and knowledgeable and capable JAG corps,” Richardson said. “They need to win their case for the service and advise commanders how to do their jobs.”
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