text: Legal Support to the Army
  legal matters. Legal processes include the investigation and trial of war crimes, tribunals under Article 5 of
  the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, due process procedures for detainees,
  foreign criminal trials of U.S. personnel, foreign civil or administrative proceedings, and proceedings
  conducted under occupation or martial law. (See DODD 2310.01E for more information on the DOD
  Detainee Program.)
  OPERATIONAL LAW
  4-50. Operational law encompasses the totality of military law that affects the conduct of operations. This
  includes an understanding of the domestic and international legal basis for operations, the authorities
  available to each level of command, any weapons or force restrictions, application and interpreting of the
  standing ROE and mission-specific ROE, interoperability with allied forces, information operations, the
  application of fiscal law to military operations, and the application of various DOD or other executive branch
  policies to military operations. Judge advocates provide operational law support in all military operations.
  The national security law judge advocate supports the MDMP by preparing legal estimates, designing the
  operational legal support architecture, writing legal annexes, assisting in developing and training of ROE,
  and reviewing plans and orders. The operational law judge advocate supports the conduct of operations by
  maintaining situational awareness and advising and assisting with lethal and nonlethal targeting, with
  particular emphasis on LOAC compliance, ROE implementation, and detainee operations. In stability
  operations, judge advocates perform activities to establish civil security, civil control, essential services,
  economic and infrastructure development, and governance. To perform these functions, the legal advisor
  must have a dedicated seat in the operations center.
  4-51. The practice of operational law further includes the Army’s need to sustain, secure and protect U.S.
  forces. Judge advocates are called upon to advise and assist in the effort to maintain a ready force through
  training and education policy, readiness and mobilization, force generation and management, and force
  protection. Force protection, both at home and abroad, contains multiple lines of effort, including
  counterterrorism and antiterrorism, emergency and critical infrastructure management, cybersecurity and
  information assurance, physical security, and counter-insider threat efforts. Like much of national security
  law, each area requires an integration of a variety of complex legal areas, and each requires the judge advocate
  to maintain constant awareness to ensure the appropriate balance between sustainment and protection efforts
  and the need to preserve the civil liberties of Soldiers, DA Civilians, and citizens in general.
  LEGAL SUPPORT TO SPACE OPERATIONS
  4-52. Legal support to space operations requires practitioners to understand and apply international and
  operational law. Space operations typically involve activities in and through the electromagnetic spectrum
  with effects in or through outer space. This requires analyzing specialized legal issues from various bodies
  of law including the Outer Space Treaty and the International Telecommunications Union in addition to the
  LOAC. The analysis may include evaluating multiple international legal regimes, making a core
  understanding of international law vital. Space activities and the electromagnetic spectrum are heavily
  regulated, so legal advisors must also consider domestic or host-nation laws and regulations that may be
  implicated in operations.
  4-53. Space operations can be considered sensitive and are governed by distinct policies. Authorities,
  processes, and coordination requirements must be thoroughly reviewed prior to conducting training or
  operations in or through the space domain. Legal advisors should review JP 3-14 to understand doctrinal
  underpinnings of space operations. Many key policy terms are defined and explained in JP 3-14.
  LEGAL SUPPORT TO DOMESTIC OPERATIONS
  4-54. Legal advisors must be able to advise the commander of the application, limitations, and exceptions
  inherent in operations conducted inside the United States. In these operations, legal advisors consider the
  Posse Comitatus Act, fiscal law associated with disaster and emergency relief, the dual status of command
  authorities, the standing rules for the use of force, the use of unmanned aircraft system and counter-unmanned
  aircraft system operations, and social media monitoring operations.