Department of the Army

Legal Guide for Commanders (Fm 27-1) Department of the Army

Publisher Marketing: This manual, "Legal Guide for Commanders (FM 27-1)," is a guide to military law for company commanders, officers and noncommissioned officers. It will acquaint you with military law as reflected in military justice, administrative law, and personal rights, responsibilities, and restrictions. It outlines basic responsibilities and daily procedures for administering military justice and administrative law in the unit. It will assist you in safeguard the personal and civil rights of the soldiers under your command. The "Powell Report" on the Uniform Code of Military Justice stresses military law's role of maintaining discipline in the Army: Discipline - state of mind which leads to a willingness to obey an order no matter how unpleasant the task to be performed - is not characteristic of a civilian community. Development of this state of mind among soldiers is a command responsibility and a necessity. In the development of discipline, correction of individuals is indispensable; in correction, fairness or justice is indispensable. Thus, it is a mistake to talk of balancing discipline and justice - the two are inseparable. Once a case is before a court-martial, it should be realized by all concerned that the sole concern is to accomplish justice under the law. This does not mean justice as determined by the commander referring a case or by anyone not duly constituted to fulfill a judicial role. It is not proper to say that a military court-martial has a dual function as an instrument of discipline and as an instrument of justice. It is an instrument of justice, and in fulfilling this function it will promote discipline (Powell Report: Report to Honorable Wilbur M. Brucker, Secretary of the Army, 1960).