BIOGRAPHY

Alan G. Kaufman
General Counsel,
Defense Media Activity

The son of Louise Kaufman Jacobs and the late Mendel J. Kaufman of Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Kaufman accepted his current position as General Counsel, Defense Media Activity, in May 2009. Immediately prior, he served for two years as a senior associate general counsel to the Director of National Intelligence, where he focused on national security law issues relevant to the intelligence community, primarily on matters of information sharing, information technology and cyber law. In the latter capacity, he was part of an inter-agency cyber lawyers group which received the intelligence community's legal team of the year award for work in development of the comprehensive national cybersecurity initiative during 2007. Mr. Kaufman retired in 2007 as a Captain in the U.S. Navy's JAG Corps, after a 22 year military career. His last active duty assignment was as Joint Force Judge Advocate to Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Mr. Kaufman graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and later received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) summa cum laude from the University Of Baltimore School Of Law. At the University Of Baltimore School Of Law, Captain (ret.) Kaufman served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, received the Law Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership, Scholarship and Service, and, in 1983, was commissioned as an Ensign in the JAG Corps student program. Admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1985, he began active duty in 1986, completing Naval Justice School in March of that year, after receiving the American Bar Association Award for Professional Merit in recognition of graduating first in his class. He later studied international law at Harvard Law School, where he received a Master of Laws (LL.M.), as well as Harvard's Addison Brown Prize for best student paper on a subject of maritime or private international law. In 2004, he was awarded a Master of Science (M.S.) in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed Forces, completing the curriculum as a Distinguished Graduate. In 2008, he became a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court.

Following graduation from Naval Justice School, Mr. Kaufman reported to the Naval Legal Service Office, Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, where he served until December 1988, performing duties as international law attorney, trial counsel, and senior defense counsel. While in the Philippines, he was assigned to the hospital ship, USNS Mercy (T-AH19), serving as her first legal officer, and participating in a humanitarian mission to the Republic of Philippines for which Mercy received the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation. He then served in the Pentagon, as assistant counsel to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, until 1991, when he reported to the conventional aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) as Legal Officer, participating in Operations Provide Comfort (Somalia relief operations) and Southern Watch (Iraq no-fly zone enforcement). On Kitty Hawk, he qualified as a conning officer alongside. In 1994, he was assigned as Law Section Head and Assistant Professor, United States Naval Academy, where he co-authored a textbook, "Naval Law: Justice and Procedure in the Sea Services."

Upon completion of his assignment to the Naval Academy in December 1996, he reported to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, as Assistant Fleet Judge Advocate for International and Operational Law. In the spring of 1999, he transferred to Headquarters, United States Pacific Command, as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate. In July 2001, he reported as Fleet Judge Advocate, United States Seventh Fleet, aboard the command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, serving in that billet until July 2003, when he reported to the National Defense University as a student. His Additional Duty Qualifications included Foreign Area Officer for East Asia and the Pacific, and the Navy "D" qualification as a U.S. Navy Senior Skipper, qualified to command U.S. Navy sailing craft in offshore waters night and day. He also holds a Gray Belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

Mr. Kaufman's military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), the Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal.

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