The U.S. Navy held an assumption of command ceremony Saturday to usher in new leadership for the service’s legal branch, according to the Navy.
Navy Secretary John Phelan welcomed Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David J. Bligh as the next Judge Advocate General, or JAG, at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington.
“He is a proven warfighter, a seasoned leader, warrior and patriot of the highest order,” Phelan said, according to the release. “With his selection, a Marine once again takes the helm of the JAG Corps, only the second time in its history and the first since Col. Remey was appointed as the inaugural Judge Advocate General in 1878.”
With his assumption of office, Bligh — who most recently served as staff judge advocate to the commandant of the Marine Corps — becomes the senior uniformed legal advisor to Phelan and the chief of naval operations.
Bligh will replace Rear Adm. Lia Reynolds, who served as the acting JAG of the Navy after Vice Adm. Christopher French unexpectedly asked to retire from the position in December 2024 after only three months.
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The Trump administration, which nominated Bligh on June 24, already had plans to replace French regardless of his request, according to the Associated Press.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the JAGS for the Army and Air Force in February amid claims that they weren’t “well suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders were given.
Bligh will lead approximately 2,500 officers, enlisted personnel, civilians and Reserve members assigned to the Office of the JAG, the Office of Special Trial Counsel and Naval Legal Service Command, among other commands.
During the ceremony, Bligh cast himself and other JAGs as more than attorneys who wear a uniform.
“We are officers and enlisted men and women in the naval service, who serve with and for our fellow warriors,” Bligh said, according to the Navy release. “That reality requires us to carry ourselves not just as legal experts, but as warfighters.”
Bligh was commissioned through the Platoon Leaders Course program in 1988 and afterward served as a platoon commander and company commander at the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, according to his service biography.
He attended the Naval Justice School and served as a civil law officer, trial counsel and officer-in-charge of legal assistance at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
He went on to become the director of the Joint Law Center at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, during which he deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom with Task Force Tarawa.
Bligh also served as the assistant JAG of the Navy for military law.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
