Dick Jackson

Richard B “Dick” Jackson has recently retired as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, LLM Program, teaching seminars on the Law of Armed Conflict.  He retired from government service in July, 2016, after 44 years of working for the U.S. Army.  After attending West Point and graduating with Highest Honors and a Bachelor’s Degree, he spent four years as an Infantryman, serving in Panama and Fort Benning, Georgia.  In the Infantry he earned the Ranger and Airborne badges, as well as the Jungle Expert and Expert Infantryman’s Badge, serving as an Infantry, 81mm Mortar and 4.2” Mortar Platoon Leader.  After selection to the Funded Legal Program, he attended Georgetown University Law Center and graduated with a JD degree, with Honors. Serving in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, he was assigned to Infantry, Special Forces, Joint, and Combined Commands, in posts as Operational Law Advisor, Trial Counsel, Defense Counsel, Chief of Criminal Law, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, and Chair of the International and Operational Law Department at the Army JAG School.  Along the way, Dick Jackson attended the LLM Program at the JAG School, the Command and General Staff College, and the War College, attaining a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies in 2005.  In the last ten years of active duty (from 1995-2005), he served at all levels of command, as a Staff Judge Advocate (senior legal advisor) for Army Special Operations Command, the 25^th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division North in Bosnia, U.S. Army Pacific, the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, and JFC Naples, a NATO Headquarters.  Dick Jackson served overseas in the Pacific, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, Panama, and Iraq, earning his Combat Patch in Panama in 1989.  From 2005 to 2016, as a Department of the Army civilian attorney, he was the Special Assistant to the Judge Advocate General of the Army for Law of War Matters.  His responsibilities included writing, preparing training materials, providing advice to the field and the Army Staff, and providing instruction on the law of armed conflict.  Dick’s civilian awards include the MG Garrison’s Special Operations Command Lifetime Achievement Award, the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the Federal Bar Association’s Federal Attorney of the Year for 2016.  He taught as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland University College (at the undergraduate level) from 2006 to 2012 and at Georgetown Law from 2012 to 2019.  And Dick Jackson also served as chair of the Lieber Society of the American Society of International Law and the Vice President of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield.  He has written numerous law review articles, lectured on the law of armed conflict all over the world, and been contributing author on three books.  His principle endeavors in retirement involve traveling and spending time with his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.