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Blackhawk Down in Iraq - Two Army JAG Personnel Were Killed On The Chopper
Email messages; Message from Army TJAG ^
| 11/10/03
| RetiredArmy
Posted on 11/10/2003 12:49:54 PM PST by RetiredArmy
Members of the JAG Regiment:
It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I inform you of the deaths of Warrant Officer of the Corps, CW5 Sharon Swartworth and the Sergeant Major of the Corps, SGM Cornell Gilmore. On 7 November 2003, CW5 Swartworth and SGM Gilmore died when the helicopter they were riding in was struck by enemy fire.
CW5 Swartworth and SGM Gilmore were accompanying me on my Article 6 visit to Iraq. They were doing what they loved most -- meeting with the soldiers of our Corps.
Information regarding funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.
Please keep the Swartworth and Gilmore families in your prayers.
Thomas J. Romig Major General, USA The Judge Advocate General
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: blackhawk; cornellgilmore; iraq; jag; sharonswartworth
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I learned today that the Blackhawk down in Iraq last week contained the Judge Advocate General of the Army (JAG) Corp Sergeant Major Gilmore and the Corp Warrant Officer, CW5 Swartworth. I am retired Army and spent the last 17 years of my career in the JAG Corps. I never met CW5 Swartworth, but had met SGM Gilmore. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. I will remember these two patriots special tomorrow. Along with all the other great Patriots in Harms Way.
To: RetiredArmy
Prayers for their families and God bless them for their service to our country.
To: RetiredArmy
I hope the lawyer bashers that infested the LA courthouse shooting threads think twice before chiming in here.
To: RetiredArmy
Respect for the dead.
4
posted on
11/10/2003 12:55:37 PM PST
by
Old Sarge
(Serving You... on Operation Noble Eagle!)
To: RetiredArmy
prayers for their families
5
posted on
11/10/2003 12:56:43 PM PST
by
davidosborne
(www.davidosborne.net)
To: RetiredArmy
Heartfelt prayers for them and their families.
So is THE Judge Advocate General the highest JAG? Are there JAG's below THE one? Thanks from a curious FReeper.
To: RetiredArmy
Prayers for their families.
What does the JAG do? (I am military ignorant. I could guess, but often I guess wrong.)
7
posted on
11/10/2003 1:02:38 PM PST
by
petitfour
To: RetiredArmy
God bless them and prayers for their families. Also, God Bless you for serving our country. :-(
8
posted on
11/10/2003 1:02:55 PM PST
by
areafiftyone
(Democrats = the hamster is dead but the wheel is still spinning)
To: RetiredArmy
My prayers and condolences to the families of these brave Americans. To see their backgrounds go to JAG Leadership Hopefully, I managed to post the link correctly.
To: Midwestguy
To: Beelzebubba
I hope the lawyer bashers that infested the LA courthouse shooting threads think twice before chiming in here.Perhaps, but after what happened to the Lieutenant Colonel who got the shaft for shooting off a pistol behind the head of an Iraqi terrorist to get the information out of him necessary to stop terrorist attacks on his troops, some may be telling those jokes in the service anyways.
To: RetiredArmy
Please accept our condolences and prayers for SGM Gilmore and CW5 Swartworth.
Here's to them, for certain, and here's to all of our fellow citizens who served and those who continue to serve that each of us may continue to enjoy the liberty we do each day. The people of our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our veterans that can never truly and fully be paid.
God bless you.
12
posted on
11/10/2003 1:12:33 PM PST
by
Chummy
To: RetiredArmy
Were these two who were lost effectively the head Warrant officer and head Sergeant of the JAG?
I'm very concerned that we have some significant moles in the new Iraqi police forces. It is very suspicious that the terrorists were able to target these helicopters with high-ranking members of the JAG as well as attacking the floors Wolfowitz was staying on in the Al Rasheed hotel (they hit above and below) and bombing the UN at a time when a delegation of US senators was originally supposed to be meeting with the head of the UN delegation in Iraq.
To: RetiredArmy

Bernard Mayo discusses Sunday, Nov. 9, 2003, in his Litchfield, Maine, home, the death of his daughter, Army Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth. Swartworth, a 26-year Army veteran, died Friday, Nov. 7, 2003, in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Iraq. An investigation was under way to determine what caused the crash, but several officers believed the Black Hawk was shot down by insurgents. (AP Photo/Kennebec Journal, Andy Molloy)
To: MediaMole
It does sound like there are moles or a lot of old bugs left hidden all around.
To: MediaMole
I understand that the Iraqi that Lt Colonel got in hot water over was in fact an Iraqi police officer. One obvious inference is that the Lt Col is being prosecuted, at least in part, because he made waves with politico's in the CAP by doing what he did.
To: Chummy
Prayers and condolences to the families of these brave Americans. God bless them.
Daily prayers also for our troops still out there.
17
posted on
11/10/2003 1:42:56 PM PST
by
Levante
To: petitfour; eyespysomething
THE Judge Advocate General of the Army is the Army's top military lawyer. This person is a Major General (two stars). The next in line is the Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Army, also a two star, but date of rank is sooner than the Assistant.
SGM Gilmore was the highest ranking enlisted member of the JAG Corps. CW5 Swartworth was the highest ranking Warrant for the Corps. Both of their jobs were administrative and in support of TJAG. They provided input on enlisted and warrant matters to TJAG regarding enlisted and warrant legal matters. This position for TJAG, SGM and Warrant is normally for a three year period and their final assignment in the Army. All are normally expected to retire from that position. The Assistant sometimes moves up to TJAG and sometimes retires also and each is replaced.
All services have a TJAG. The Navy, Army and Air Force. The Marines fall under the Navy. These individuals are the top ranking military lawyers, but have civilian attorneys and staffs also working under them. The Army JAG Corps is the largest law firm in the United States and probably the world, with the most attorneys and staffs.
At Command level, at say Corp, Division, base level, the JAG is called the Staff Judge Advocate because he/she is the Judge Advocate to the command staff of that division, corp or fort, base, etc.
And NO, JAGs are not like the JAG on TV. No JAG does that kind of stuff, flying around in Tomcats, attacking bad guys, etc. That is just TV. The enlisted corps in the JAGs are called legal specialist in the ranks of E-1 (Private) through E-4 (specialist); after that you make sergeant and are called Legal NCOs, Chief Legal NCO, Senior Legal NCO, etc. are the job titles. At say division level, like the 101st Abn Div, 4th Inf Div's in Iraq, the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) will normally be a Lieutenant Colonel or full Colonel. He will have a Deputy SJA, who will be another LTC or a Major. He will have a Sergeant Major or Master Sergeant as his Chief Legal NCO and also have a Law Office Manager, which would be the Warrant Officers, who run the legal administration of the law office. Hope that helps petitfour.
18
posted on
11/10/2003 1:43:35 PM PST
by
RetiredArmy
(We'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American Way! Toby Keith)
To: MediaMole
Yes.
19
posted on
11/10/2003 1:44:25 PM PST
by
RetiredArmy
(We'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American Way! Toby Keith)
To: RetiredArmy
Thank you so much for that lengthy reply. I will not ask more because this is a thread for sympathy for these soldiers and their families. Someone else posted a link to the JAG website. It is informative also.
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