Brig. gen. nominated for job as top attorney - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Brig. gen. nominated for job as top attorney

Brig. Gen. Richard C. Harding has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general, a move that would see him pin on two additional stars at once and become the Air Force’s top attorney.

If confirmed, Harding would replace Judge Advocate General Lt. Gen. Jack Rives, who is retiring. Harding is commander of Air Force Legal Operations Agency at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.

Harding is skipping time as major general because of a 2008 mandate from Congress that the services’ top attorneys be lieutenant generals. The change left the Air Force without a pool of major generals to choose from.

Until the change, the top rank for Air Force lawyers was major general and only two attorneys served at that rank, the judge advocate general and the deputy judge advocate general, a post now held by Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap.

Skipping a rank isn’t unprecedented. Last year, Maj. Gen. Kimberly Siniscalchi, a nurse, was promoted from colonel to two-star general when she was selected to be assistant surgeon general for nursing services and force development.