In early 2026, a National Guard soldier with over 15 years of service had his medication changed for a chronic condition. He received official notice that he was “unfit” for continued service and would have to appear before an Army Physical Evaluation Board —  a step in the process before receiving a medical discharge. 

The soldier, who asked his name not be used because his case is pending, had less than a week to respond. 

“I’m like, ‘great, cool,’” the soldier remembers thinking. “I’m going to talk to the lawyer.”

The soldier tried his state judge advocate general (JAG) office, but was told, “we can’t do anything for you. We can’t represent you, that’s not our job,” he said. 

His medical detachment directed him to the Office of Soldiers’ Counsel, a little-known office that provides lawyers trained to help servicemembers through moments that could be pivotal for their careers. When troops cannot meet medical standards due to service-related injuries or health conditions they are referred to the Disability Evaluation System.

As part of the system, troops may attend Medical or Physical Evaluation Boards, which involves mounds of paperwork and meetings with medical experts and commanders who decide whether they are fit for duty or recommended for separation. The OSC lawyers, who are mostly civilians, advise and represent soldiers to “safeguard their rights” throughout the process.

A little over a decade ago, the office had nearly 200 lawyers and paralegals. But staffing cuts have led the Army to scale back the office’s full set of legal services. Now, soldiers who face medical separation are no longer guaranteed lawyers who can help them with their case. Instead, they will have to represent themselves or pay for civilian lawyers out of pocket.

“OSC has experienced dramatic cuts to its authorized positions over the past 12 months,” according to a May 27 Army memo viewed by Task & Purpose. “Since May 2025, OSC has used a phased approach, based on personnel numbers, to limit services to only those that are statutory.”

Army officials did not provide a number of recent staff cuts that drove the changes. 

A notice posted on an OSC scheduling website states that the office is “unable to assist” soldiers going through the Medical Evaluation Board stage and no longer accepts clients on the Temporary Disabled Retired List. The notice says soldiers “may secure private counsel for assistance at no expense to the Army.”

As of July 1, the office ceased “providing all legal services to non-active duty” National Guard and Reserve soldiers, according to the memo. 

The National Guardsman had reached out to the OSC earlier this year as the Army was scaling its legal services back. He met with an OSC lawyer who talked through his case and helped him submit a rebuttal. Since that conversation, “it’s been radio silence,” the Guardsman said. The original number he called is now disconnected.

“It feels like I’ve been arrested for a crime and now I’m in front of a judge to answer for it,” the soldier said. “But I don’t have knowledge of the process.”

‘Almost as close as a defense counsel‘

John Gately, a private military disability lawyer, said OSC lawyers play a role “almost as close as a defense counsel in the court martial or administrative discharge court setting.” 

The real loss, Gately said, will be that initial help when a soldier is totally unfamiliar with the system.

“Quite honestly, the area in which the individual soldier has the most influence over his case is at this early stage,” Gately said.

By the time soldiers get to formal board hearings, they need to have the right paperwork filled out or their medical profiles updated to get the most for their VA disability rating, he said. 

“We say, ‘You had access to the regulations. You had access to your medical records. You should have put this all together and been part-lawyer or medical officer,’” Gately said. “We wouldn’t take a soldier and say, ‘Hey, you have been an intel specialist for the past 10 years, we’re going to go ahead and give you a manual for an H-60 Blackhawk, and we’re going to need you to fly cross country at night.’ I mean, that’s how ridiculous it can be.”

Dan Conway, a former Marine Corps JAG who represents troops going through the disability process as a private attorney, said free legal help is “enormously valuable” and helps service members either stay in their jobs or fight for greater disability compensation if they are medically discharged.

“When a service member waives their rights or accepts lower amounts of disability than they’re entitled to, that can be a very costly error,” Conway said. “Maybe a soldier accepts a 20% rating when we could have gotten them placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List, and now they’re not getting TRICARE for them and their dependents.”

Sean Mangan, a former Army JAG and private military defense attorney, said the change reflects recent Pentagon directives to shift legal resources towards more operational needs like warfighting and readiness. Mangan said this policy is a “return” to the pre-9/11 era “which is, the military’s legal functions are about the military’s operations, and they’re not a full-service legal aid system.”

Legal counsel “at no cost” to service members became a standard with the Integrated Disability Evaluation System that was formally implemented in 2011 to streamline the process between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Part-time JAGs may be tasked with some cases

The lack of legal representation for National Guard and Reserve soldiers, Gately said, is problematic because their judge advocate generals, JAGs, do not typically specialize in soldier disability cases.

“Let’s face it, every Army Reserve JAG and Army Guard JAG has some primary duty to begin with, so unless they rededicate resources,” Gately said, “I see people falling through the cracks.”

Heather Hagan, an Army spokesperson, said last week that the office is “transferring” its support to “trusted” Army National Guard and Reserve lawyers. She also said that OSC has trained nearly 250 Reserve JAGs over the last year, “including additional training occurring next week.”

Air Force and Navy officials told Task & Purpose there have been no recent impacts to the Navy’s Disability Evaluation System Counsel Program or the Air Force’s Office of Disability Counsel’s abilities to provide free legal counsel.

“They’re trying to cure some staffing shortages,” Conway said. “They’re doing it at the expense of some of the most vulnerable members of the military that may be suffering from serious injuries, significant emotional distress, mental health disorders, people that may not be postured to make the best decisions about their future.”

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