In July 2003, Major Tideman Penland - a JAG officer with the 1st Armored Division - arrived in Iraq to serve initially as the senior legal advisor to the division rear based at Camp Dogwood, and his duties included leading and managing the legal staff there, advising the senior mission commander at Dogwood, and providing direct legal advice to individual soldiers, concerning himself primarily with rules of engagement and law of war issues. There, Penland also was part of a training cadre for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps academy and was responsible for developing the law of war and human rights blocks of training for them. Then, from that September until March 2004, he went to Baghdad and served as the justice officer on the 1st Armored Division's governance support team, advising the Iraqi Ministry of Justice. In this capacity, Penland gained some direct visibility on the Coalition Provisional Authority, which he considered "grossly understaffed" and a "great source of frustration." He continued, adding: "I think as an organization it turned the occupation into a social experiment as opposed to dealing directly with the security issues in Iraq." In fact, said Penland, he found the Iraqis easier to deal with than the CPA. Later, from April through his redeployment in July 2004, he was the division's deputy staff judge advocate and, as such, served as advisor to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq - the creation, existence and function of which he calls an "historic development." Penland also discusses efforts to protect Iraqi judges from would-be assassins and how, to provide them with trustworthy bodyguards, they had at times to circumvent the "niceties of the American civilian hiring process."

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited