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Curriculum Vitae

Scott L. Silliman

Personal Data:

Date of Birth: February 14, 1943

Place of Birth: Newton, Mass

Home Address: 4210 Peachway Drive
Durham, NC 27705-5393

Home Telephone: (919) 419-6264

Family: Wife (Beverly) and three children

Present Position:

  • Professor of the Practice of Law at Duke University School of Law, and Executive Director of the Law School's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security
  • Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Adjunct Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University

Contact Information

Center on Law, Ethics and National Security

Duke University School of Law
Post Office Box 90358
Durham, NC 27708-0358

Telephone: (919) 613-7138

FAX: (919) 613-7231

e-Mail silliman@law.duke.edu
Website http://lens.law.duke.edu

Education:

  • 1965 Bachelor of Arts degree, University of North Carolina
  • 1968 Juris Doctor degree, University of North Carolina

Government Service Prior to Coming to Duke

Commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force after completion of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at UNC in 1965. He received an educational delay from active duty and spent three more years at the University of North Carolina studying law. For the following 25 years, he served in various positions of leadership at different levels of management within the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Department:

  • November 1968 - November 1969, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters First Air Force, Stewart Air Force Base, New York;
  • November 1969 - December 1970, Assistant Chief of Military Justice, Headquarters Second Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana;
  • January 1971 - June 1975, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate and then Staff Judge Advocate*, Royal Air Force Station Chicksands, Bedfordshire, England;
  • June 1975 - June 1978, Faculty Instructor and Chief of the Military Justice Division, Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama;
  • June 1978 - June 1981, Assistant Executive to The Air Force Judge Advocate General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.;
  • June 1981 - June 1984, Staff Judge Advocate*, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska;
  • June 1984 - October 1986, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters Fifteenth Air Force, March Air Force Base, California;
  • November 1986 - August 1988, Staff Judge Advocate*, First Air Force, and Director of General Law, Headquarters, Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia;
  • August 1988 - June 1990, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia;
  • June 1990 - May 1992, Staff Judge Advocate*, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia;
  • 1992 - 1993, Staff Judge Advocate*, Headquarters Air Combat Command (then, the largest organizational command within the United States Air Force), Langley Air Force Base, Virginia;
  • August 31,1993 - Retired in the grade of colonel after serving for 25 years as an Air Force judge advocate prior to taking his position on September 1, 1993 as the LENS Executive Director and a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law

* Note: The position of “Staff Judge Advocate” is the senior attorney in any Air Force organization.

Major Service Awards and Decorations

  • Legion of Merit
  • Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
  • Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster

Other Unique Achievements While in Government Service

  • Selected as the winner of the1977 Albert M. Kuhfeld Award for being the Outstanding Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force for that year;
  • Served as the Commander of the 5072 Air Base Squadron and Installation Commander, Galena Air Force Base, Alaska, for a two month period in 1982, making him one of only a few military attorneys ever to hold a command position while in the Judge Advocate General’s Department.

Effective Dates of Promotion as an Air Force Officer

  • Second Lieutenant (USAFR) Jun 6, 1965
  • First Lieutenant (USAFR) Jun 7, 1968
  • Captain Nov 15, 1968
  • Major Oct 1, 1976
  • Lieutenant Colonel Mar 1, 1981
  • Colonel Apr 1, 1986

Publications

  • An article on the Supreme Court and its impact upon the United States Court of Military Appeals, in the Air Force Law Review, (18 A.F.L. Rev 81 (Summer 1976)).
  • An article focusing on the deployment of Air Force attorneys and paralegals during the Persian Gulf War, in the Air Force Law Review, (37 A.F.L. Rev 85 (1994)).
  • Co-authored, with Duke Law Professor Robinson O. Everett, an article titled Forums for Punishing Offenses Against the Law of Nations for the Wake Forest Law Review, Vol. 29, Number 2, Summer 1994.
  • The Foreword for the 1995 and 1997 Fall symposium editions of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law.
  • An article on sex crimes in the military, entitled “Adultery and the Military: a Reply to General Creighton”, in the American Bar Association National Security Law Report, Summer 1997.
  • An article entitled “The Iraqi Quagmire: Enforcing the No-Fly Zones”, in the New England Law Review, Vol 36, Number 4, Summer 2002.
  • An article on legal and policy issues regarding the detention of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, in the American Bar Association National Security Law Report, December 2003.
  • An article about interrogation techniques adopted for use at Guantanamo Bay, in Duke Magazine, September-October 2004.
  • An article entitled “Teaching National Security Law”, in the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2004.
  • An article entitled “On Military Commissions”, in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Volume 36, Numbers 2 & 3, 2004.

Book and Other Reviews

  • Essays on the Modern Law of War by Leslie C. Green in International Journal of Legal Information, in International Journal of Legal Information, Vol. 27, Number 3, Winter 1999.
  • Review of the movie Rules of Engagement for the on-line Journal of Law and Popular Culture at the University of San Francisco, 1999.
  • Connected to Society: The Political Beliefs of U.S. Army Generals by Diane Carney, Journal of Armed Force & Society (February 2000).
  • The New Law of War: Legitimizing Hi-Tech and Infrastructure Weapons, International Studies Quarterly (August 2001)
  • Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals by Gary Jonathan Bass, in American Diplomacy (May 2003)
  • Film Review of “The President versus David Hicks”, an Olsen Levy production through the Australian Film Finance Corporation, in Political Communication , Volume 22, Number 3 (July-September 2005).

Teaching and Research Interests

  • National security law, international humanitarian law, military law and operational law. He is a widely sought after guest lecturer on the Law of War, and a frequent commentator on CNN, National Public Radio, and other national radio and television news programs on issues involving military law and national security. As Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, he promotes teaching, research and publications in national security law, and sponsors or co-sponsors three major, nationally-recognized conferences each year.

Memberships and Awards

  • Since 1975, Judge Advocates Association ( a national organization of active duty, reserve and retired judge advocates from all the services).
  • 1978-1987 Board of Directors, Judge Advocates Association.
  • Member of the Advisory Committee of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security.
  • Distinguished Speakers Series, Triangle World Affairs Council, October 1999.

Other Activities

  • Organizes LENS’ annual spring conference held in Durham, North Carolina.
  • As co-chairman (since 1996) of the conference planning committee of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security, he has the major role in planning the annual ABA National Security Law Update conference which LENS co-sponsors each fall.
  • As Executive Director of LENS, he continues to work with television, radio and print media representatives on a wide variety of subjects in the national security field.
  • Testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 28, 2001, regarding military commissions under the President’s military order of November 13, 2001.
  • Met with and served on a panel before selected members and staff of the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on June 17, 2004, on the issue of the “Torture Memos”.
  • Testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 11, 2006, on what response Congress should make to the Supreme Court decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
  • Testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 19, 2006, on what response Congress should make to the Supreme Court decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.