For the past decade there have been numerous and significant changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the statutory basis for the military justice system. Although the Military Justice Act of 2016 made major changes to the UCMJ, the calls for change continued. One of the most-often heard calls for reform over the last decade has suggested removing commanders from the military justice system. Some have argued that a command-centric military justice system was outdated, and it was time to make the system look more like the federal criminal procedure system. Other critics have advocated for a military justice system that looks more like those of our allied nations. In large part, those calls for reform were driven by the seemingly intractable problem of sexual assaults in the military. While there were other proposed changes to the UCMJ, calls for reducing the role of the commander took the lead
