MCO 5800.16 Vol 3 - Marine Corps Defense Services Organization

What this volume is

MCO 5800.16 Volume 3, MARINE CORPS DEFENSE SERVICES ORGANIZATION. One of 17 volumes of the Legal Support and Administration Manual, short title LSAM, the Marine Corps legal services authority issued by CMC (JA). Signed 20 FEB 2018. Source PDF on file from the 2026-04 archive snapshot.

Sections

• 0101 Purpose
• 0102 Applicability
• 0103 General
• 0104 Attorney-Client Relationships
• 0105 Guiding Principles
• 0106 Personnel
• 0107 Tour Length
• 0108 Reassignment
• 0109 Collateral Duties
• 0110 Detailing
• 0111 Representation At Initial Review Officer Hearings
• 0112 Requests For Individual Military Counsel

Lead excerpt

Marine Corps defense counsel services are performed by commissioned officers who are licensed attorneys, certified as judge advocates under Article 27(b), UCMJ, and assigned to defense counsel billets in the DSO. Marine defense counsel serve at locations throughout the Marine Corps and are administratively attached to Legal Services Support Sections (LSSS). However, Marine defense counsel are under the functional supervision of and responsible and accountable to the CDC via the responsible Regional Defense Counsel [...]

Quoted from the opening section of the volume.

Audience

Defense counsel, Marines facing adverse action, and SJAs handling individual military counsel requests.

Connections

• UCMJ Article 27(b). Certification basis for defense counsel.
• MCO 5800.16 Volume 16. Court-martial proceedings where detailing and IMC requests land.

Access

The external link opens the official landing page for the current version.