Flora Diana Darpino (born 1961) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and military lawyer who was the 39th

Judge Advocate General of the United States Army The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army (TJAG) is the senior officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. Under Title 10 of the United States Code, the TJAG is appointed by the President of the United Stat ...

. She was the first woman to hold that position, which she held from September 4, 2013 to July 14, 2017.

Education

Darpino graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

in Pennsylvania, and received her Juris Doctor from

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

in Camden, New Jersey, in 1986. She later received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in military law from

The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, also known as The JAG School or TJAGLCS, is a graduate-level division federal service academy located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The center is ...

. She is a member of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and Pennsylvania Bars.

Career

Darpino received a direct commission into the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps in January 1987. Her first assignment was to

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

in Stuttgart, Germany, where she was a trial defense counsel and chief of the civil law division. She was later the training officer and assistant operations officer for the United States Army Trial Defense Service; litigation attorney, litigation division, United States Army Legal Services Agency; chief, Administrative Law, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; assistant executive officer, Office of The Judge Advocate General; chief, Judge Advocate Recruiting Office; staff judge advocate, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas and Tikrit, Iraq; deputy staff judge advocate, III Corps at Fort Hood; chief, Criminal Law Division, OTJAG; staff judge advocate,

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

, in Heidelberg, Germany; and staff judge advocate,

United States Forces – Iraq United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) was an American military sub-unified command, part of U.S. Central Command. It was stationed in Iraq as agreed with the Government of Iraq under the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. USF–I repla ...

, in Baghdad, Iraq. She served as the commander of the United States Army Legal Services Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and as the commander of the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Darpino is married with two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darpino, Flora D. Living people American military lawyers United States Army generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Judge Advocates General of the United States Army Female generals of the United States Army 1961 births The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) 21st-century American women