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Controversial JAG submits retirement papers

The former chief prosecutor for the Pentagon’s Office of Military Commissions is retiring from the Air Force, ending a distinguished 25-year career punctuated by a recent high-profile dispute with the Pentagon over the fairness of military tribunals for terrorism suspects.

Col. Morris Davis, director of the Air Force Judiciary, said he submitted retirement paperwork March 17 and expects to retire effective Nov. 1. He will leave his job and go on terminal leave in late July, he said.

Davis has been in his current job just six months following his resignation in October as chief prosecutor for the military commissions because of what he said was improper meddling with the prosecution by the convening authority, Susan Crawford, and her legal adviser, Brig. Gen. Tom Hartmann.

The resignation — followed by editorials he wrote for major newspapers criticizing the tribunals — effectively ended his career, Davis said.

“I knew when I quit what the consequences were,” he said. “I pretty much made myself noncompetitive for [Defense Department]-level jobs. I knew it was going to be the end of the line.”

Davis also raised eyebrows in February when he said he plans to testify in the defense for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver and bodyguard. He said he has been asked by the defense to testify at pre-trial hearings that begin April 28. Davis will not testify that the defendant is innocent, he said, but that there are problems with the military commissions process.

But Davis said there has been little backlash over that issue and there is no single reason he decided to retire. Family considerations were a major factor, he said. He and his family want to remain in the Washington, D.C., area, but because of the controversy, he would not be able to move onto other Air Force or Pentagon positions. That means he must retire and seek employment in the civilian sector.

Davis said his work has not been affected and no one has pressured him to retire.

“I’ve had nothing but support from the Air Force JAG community,” he said.

Davis said he is not certain what job opportunities he will pursue next, but he has applied for teaching positions at law schools around Washington. At this point, he said, he has not ruled anything out.

“I guess, worst-case, there’s a new Jiffy Lube up the street,” Davis said. “I like coveralls.”