Richard C. Harding is a retired American Lieutenant General who was the Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force. He was the highest-ranking uniformed attorney in the Air Force, and led over 4400 uniformed and civilian lawyers, paralegals and legal support personnel in the United States Air Force. By federal statute, he served as the legal adviser to the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and all officers subordinate to them.
Biography
General Harding is a graduate of the University of Arkansas' J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Arkansas School of Law. He was a student at the University of ArkansasSchool of Law when a young Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were on the faculty. He was awarded a direct commission in the United States Air Force as a First Lieutenant in 1980 and was assigned to Bitburg Air Base in West Germany. Over the next few decades, Harding rose through the ranks of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps and served as the Staff Judge Advocate to six separate commands: 12th Flying Training Wing, 3d Wing, United States Strategic Command, Headquarters 8th Air Force, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, and Headquarters Air Combat Command. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the Commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, where he improved the organization and provision of legal services in environmental, contract, labor, criminal, and medical law for the Air Force. He also oversaw the provision of legal education through courses in specialty fields of practice provided by The Air Force Judge Advocate General's School. In 2009, his Legal Information Services team won the W. Edwards Deming Award, which is presented annually to a federal government organization or a civilian or uniformed branch of the military, in recognition of an impressive workforce development and training initiative that has measurably improved the organization's performance. This was the first time an Air Force team had won this prestigious government award. In 2010, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and became The Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force. General Harding created a pilot program called the Special Victims' Counsel Program, which provides victims of sexual assault with their own independent attorneys. In 2013, the Secretary of Defense directed other military services to follow the Air Force pilot program and provide Special Victims' Counsel to their service members, who are survivors of military sexual assault. The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, passed by Congress in 2013 and signed into law by President Barack Obama, requires all services to follow the Air Force program and provide Special Victims' Counsel to service members who are victims of sexual assault. In 2014, the Department of Justice awarded the Air Force a Special Service Award for its Special Victims' Counsel Program. Following implementation of the Special Victims' Counsel programs in the military, reporting of sexual violence in the Armed Forces increased and prevalence of sexual assault decreased. Comparing the 2012 survey results of military members with the 2014 survey results of military members demonstrates that reporting of sexual assault increased by 57% and prevalence of sexual assault decreased by 27%. Also during his tenure as The Judge Advocate General, General Harding led a team in writing the Air Force Directive defining Air Force culture and in writing the Air Force Instruction on standards of conduct in the Air Force. He also created the first legal assistance continuing education annual requirement for Air Force judge advocates, improving the quality of legal services throughout the Air Force, and he introduced a program to certify Air Force prosecutors trial and defense counsel to represent their clients without the assistance of a more senior attorney, through excellence demonstrated by in-court appearances and evaluations by trial judges and staff judge advocates, a model for other military services to follow. Furthermore, he reduced military prosecution times, resulting in improving good order and discipline in the United States Air Force by eliminating unnecessary delays in court-martial processing. General Harding also created the first Training and Readiness Office for the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps, requiring the office regularly inspect every Air Force legal office pursuant to Article 6 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During a Phase 1 inspection, a trained team of previously successful Staff Judge Advocates and Law Office Managers conduct an in-depth 4-day inspection and submit their report to The Judge Advocate General, followed six to eight months later by a Phase 2 inspection from The Judge Advocate General or the Deputy Judge Advocate General to ensure all deficiencies cited in the Phase 1 report are corrected. This 2-phase inspection process is credited with a worldwide improvement in Air Force legal services and serves as a model for other services to adopt in implementing Article 6 of the UCMJ. General Harding's term as The Judge Advocate General ended on 31 January 2014. His retirement from the United States Air Force was effective 1 April 2014. General Harding now assists universities and interest groups in eradicating campus sexual assaults with successful lessons learned from combating military sexual assaults. He serves on the Advisory Council of the National Crime Victims' Legal Institute.
