BG Joseph B. Berger III
BG Joseph B. Berger III
Brigadier General (BG) Joe Berger currently serves as the Commander of The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. In his last position, he served as the Commander, U.S. Legal Services Agency and Chief Judge, U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
BG Berger graduated from the U.S Military Academy at West Point in 1992 and was commissioned into the Military Police Corps, where he served as a Platoon Leader (including a tour in Mogadishu, Somalia from July to December 1993), company-level Executive Officer, and Battalion Supply Officer and Adjutant.
In 1995, he was selected for the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program, received his juris doctor from the George Mason University School of Law, and transferred to the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He served in a succession of legal positions with First Armored Division in Friedberg and Bad Kreuznach, Germany, as the Deputy Legal Advisor for Task Force Falcon in Kosovo, and at Fort Bliss, Texas as the chief prosecutor.
Following receipt of his Masters of Law in International Law (LLM) (Distinguished Graduate) in 2004, he served as the legal advisor for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Then, after graduating from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in April 2007, he returned to Iraq to serve on the Multi-National Force-Iraq’s Law and Order Task Force as a judicial mentor to Iraqi prosecutors and judges. From 2008 to 2011, he served as the Senior Legal Advisor for the Joint Special Operations Command. After graduating from the National War College as a Distinguished Graduate with a Master’s of Science in National Security Strategy, he worked in the JAG Corps’ Personnel, Plans, and Training Office and then served as the Chief, Investigations and Legislative Division, Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison serving as a liaison between the Army and Congress. Prior to his promotion to General Officer, he served as the senior legal advisor for the U.S. Army’s Cyber Command.
BG Berger has deployed to Somalia, Kosovo, and numerous times each to Iraq and
Afghanistan. He is the 2012 winner of the Secretary of Defense’s National Security Essay Competition and his military awards include the Legion of Merit (three times), the Bronze Star (four times), the Meritorious Service Medal (three times), the Joint Service Commendation Medal (twice), the Army Commendation Medal (twice), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (five times), as well as the Valorous Unit Award (Somalia) and Presidential Unit Citation (Joint Task Force Neptune). He is also authorized to wear the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist’s Badge, and the German parachutist’s badge (Fallschirmspringerabzeichen).
He is a member in good standing of the Bars of the State of Maryland, the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
BG Berger is married. He and his wife, a career civil servant, have two adult children.
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