John L. Rives
Then Judge Advocate General
Nickname(s)Jack
Born1952 (age 70–71)[1]
Service/branch United States Air Force
Years of service1977–2010
Rank Lieutenant general
Commands heldJudge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Air Force
AwardsAir Force Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2)
Alma materUniversity of Georgia
Other workExecutive Director, American Bar Association

Jack L. Rives (born 1952) is a former American military officer and the current executive director and chief operating officer of the American Bar Association, and a former TJAG ("The Judge Advocate General") of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps. In 2008, he became the first Judge Advocate General in any service to hold the rank of lieutenant general.[2] He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1977 until 2010.

Background

Rives grew up in Rockmart, Georgia, where his family were the only Jews in a town of 4,000. "We would go to [synagogue for] the High Holy Days... and there was curiosity among my classmates, curiosity about why I was getting out of school to go to Yom Kippur services or Rosh Hashanah." He either attended or taught Sunday school every week from the time he was 5 years old until high school.[3]

He notes that his father was in the National Guard for a short time, but otherwise his family had no formal military "heritage."[4]

Rives received an A.B. degree in political science from the University of Georgia in 1974 and a J.D. degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1976. He was a member of the Kappa Deuteron chapter of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He has also been educated at the Air Command and Staff College (1983), Air War College (1990), and National War College (1993).

Air Force career

Lt. Gen. Jack L. Rives and Lt. Gen. Scott C. Black perform the ribbon cutting at the Pentagon Army Air Force Legal Assistance Office, Feb 25, 2009.
Lt. Gen. Rives pins the Meritorious Service Medal on Col. Lindsey Graham (United States Senator, South Carolina), April 2009.

Rives received his commission through the Air Force ROTC program in 1974 and entered active duty in 1977 after receiving his J.D. degree as assistant staff judge advocate at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York. Between 1978 and 1983, he was stationed at Kunsan Air Base, Hellenikon Air Base, and Clark Air Base as a judge advocate and defense counsel. It was during his assignment at Hellenikon that he met Marie, the woman who would become his wife.[4]

Rives worked in the Office of the Judge Advocate Generate between 1986 and 1990, was an appellate judge at the U.S. Air Force Court of Military Review between 1990 and 1992, and was the deputy legal counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff between 1993 and 1995. While in his assignment at JCS, he worked for Colin Powell and John Shalikashvili.[4]

Rives was commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School between 1995 and 1998 before returning to Washington to serve as the chief of the Air Force Executive Issues Team and staff judge advocate from 1998 to 2002.

Rives became Deputy Judge Advocate General (DJAG) and was promoted to major general in 2002. In September 2004, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Fiscus was relieved of his duties as The Judge Advocate General (TJAG) in response to an investigation into his relationships with female subordinates, and Rives was named acting TJAG.[5][6] There was a period of over a year when the Air Force operated without an official TJAG, during which Rives continued to sign his name as DJAG, adding when necessary, "PDOT": "Performing the duties of TJAG."[4]

In 2006, he was named TJAG of the Air Force. In that position, he served as the legal adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, directed 2,200 judge advocates, 350 attorneys, 1,400 enlisted paralegals, and 500 civilians. The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act requires that The Judge Advocate General and Surgeon General of the Air Force and Army must each hold the rank of lieutenant general.[7] As a result, Rives became the first Judge Advocate General in any service to serve in the grade of lieutenant general.[2]

As deputy judge advocate general, Rives criticized Justice Department memos that authorized the President to conduct enhanced interrogation techniques as "violations of domestic criminal law" and could potentially place interrogators and the military chain of command at risk of international criminal accusations.[8][9] In 2006 during a hearing on the Military Commissions Act, Rives and other senior military lawyers advised Congress to grant detainees broader legal protections, such as granting defendants access to classified evidence, than the rules proposed by the Bush administration.[10][11]

JAG Corps 21

Partly as a result of problems that included the investigation of Rives's predecessor as TJAG, and partly because of the importance then-U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley placed on the JAG Corps, Rives was given the chance to restructure and revise the corps. His work, which included the convening of a "Keystone Leadership Summit" in 2005, and "Horizons sessions" to assess progress and course-correct as necessary, led to "JAG Corps 21," the new vision for the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the twenty-first century.[4]

As part of the new vision for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps, Rives was instrumental in the development of three guiding principles for the corps: Wisdom, Valor, and Justice.

American Bar Association

On April 22, 2010, Rives was named the executive director and chief operating officer of the American Bar Association.[12][13] He officially began to work in his new position on May 1, the day recognized as "Law Day" by the ABA and many other legal organizations.[14]

He replaced Henry White Jr. who resigned in 2009 with other senior staff members following a reorganization set in motion by ABA president Carolyn Lamm.[15][16] American Bar Association Executive Director Rives departed from the ABA in March 2023. He was succeeded by Alpha M. Brady as Executive Director, making her the first person of color to lead the ABA.[17]

Awards and decorations[18]

Judge Advocate Badge
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
Headquarters Air Force Badge
Bronze oak leaf cluster
 Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster
Defense Superior Service Medal
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 crimson ribbon with a pair of width-2 white stripes on the edges
 Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Width-44 crimson ribbon with two width-8 white stripes at distance 4 from the edges. Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with three oak leaf clusters
Bronze star
Width=44 scarlet ribbon with a central width-4 golden yellow stripe, flanked by pairs of width-1 scarlet, white, Old Glory blue, and white stripes
 National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Korea Defense Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Short Tour Service Ribbon
Bronze oak leaf cluster
 Air Force Overseas Long Tour Service Ribbon with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Longevity Service Award with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon

References

  1. ↑ http://www.publicbackgroundchecks.com/SearchResponse.aspx?view=NM&fn=JACK&mn=L&ln=RIVES&city=&state=&zip=&dob=1952&age=
  2. 1 2 "Lieutenant General Jack L. Rives Biography". U.S. Air Force. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  3. ↑ Kredo, Adam (April 1, 2010). "Top JAG: Air Force's top-ranking lawyer retires;viewed himself as a legal compass". Washington Jewish Week. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Oral History for Jack Rives, June 11, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ricks, Thomas E. (September 30, 2004). "Top Air Force Lawyer Steps Aside". Washington Post.
  6. ↑ "Air Force's Former Top Military Lawyer to Retire in Reduced Rank". U.S. Air Force. January 10, 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Subtitle D, Section 543, Pub.L. 110-181: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008" (PDF). pp. 112–113.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Neil A. (July 28, 2005). "Military's Opposition to Harsh Interrogation Is Outlined". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ White, Josh (July 27, 2005). "Abu Ghraib Dog Tactics Came From Guantanamo". Washington Post.
  10. ↑ Zernike, Kate (July 14, 2006). "Military Lawyers Urge Protections for Detainees". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Smith, R. Jeffrey (August 3, 2006). "Top Military Lawyers Oppose Plan for Special Courts". Washington Post.
  12. ↑ "Meet the ABA's New Executive Director, Jack L. Rives". ABA Journal. April 22, 2010.
  13. ↑ "ABA Names Jack L. Rives New Executive Director". ABA Media Relations & Communication Services. April 22, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  14. ↑ James Podgers, "Well-Suited for the Job," ABA Journal, Jun 1, 2010.
  15. ↑ "ABA Shake-Up Ousts Executive Director, Other Top Staff". National Law Journal. November 19, 2009.
  16. ↑ "American Bar Association President Carolyn B. Lamm Accepts Resignation of Executive Director Henry F. White Jr". American Bar Association News Release. November 19, 2009.
  17. ↑ "ABA names Alpha M. Brady as new Executive Director".
  18. ↑ ABA Names Jack L. Rives New Executive Director.
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