User:Jmbranum/Military Law Task Force

The Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild is an organization of legal workers, lawyers and law students. It is dedicated to fighting for the rights of G.I.'s and to fighting through legal means against U.S. Imperialistic and Militaristic policies.

The MLTF describes its work as being to assist "those working on military law issues as well as military law counselors working directly with GIs. It trains and mentors counselors and beginning military law attorneys in all aspects of military law through training materials and direct communication. It updates changes in military law and policy.

The MLTF has been instrumental in the fight against the exclusion of gay and lesbian sericemmbers from the US military, free speech rights for soldiers, military prisoner rights and the fight against stop-loss.

History
The MLTF had its roots in the Guild's Military Law Project at Fort Ord and later in the Philipines, but the organization was officially formed sometime in the 1970's in Washington, D.C. when Jim Klimaski, Mike Gaffney, and Keith Snyder first began publishing On Watch. In 1978, Kathy Gilberd (co-author of Rules of Disengagement ) became chair and the office was moved to San Diego, California.

The Task Force's work varied greatly over the decades, depending on both the broader political activist climate and the need for services. Shortly after the second Iraq War began that the work of the MLTF took on a new level of vigor and intensity. It was during this time that the group was led by co-chairs Gilberd and Marti Hiken.

Today the Task Force is led by a steering committee composed of both lawyers and legal workers who work in the area of G.I. rights/military law, as well as related concerns (such as counter-recruitment education and veterans' rights). The co-chairs are Gilberd and James M. Branum.

Programatic Work
The MLTF current projects and work includes:


 * Publication of On Watch, a journal of military law issues, and the website NLGMLTF.org
 * Legal Research and Support
 * Speaker's Bureau
 * Legal Support to G.I. organizing, including the work of Iraq Veterans Against the War and the G.I. coffeehouses at Fort Hood (Under the Hood Café and Fort Lewis (Coffee Strong)
 * Training and Organizing G.I. rights projects and military law panels