Trust Is the Mission

By COL Joseph M. Fairfield

Article published on: August 1, 2025 in the 2nd 2025 Issue of Army Lawyer

Read Time: < 19 mins

I still remember what my commander said during the unit hail:

He stood up, looked around the room with an annoyed expression, glanced down at his index card, and said,

“I can’t believe we have one lawyer, let alone two.”

Then he sat down. No handshake. No welcome. Just a clear message: I was not trusted, and I was not needed.

I was the new deputy command judge advocate for a special operations unit. I had completed a successful first tour in the 82nd Airborne Division, but I was still new to the special operations community, and to them I was unproven.

It took a combat deployment, steady performance, and a lot of listening to earn my place in the room. But I did earn it. After the deployment, the same commander called me into his office.

“You did a great job downrange,” he said. “I’d take you to combat with me tomorrow.”

That trust was not automatic. It was earned the hard way. And sometimes, that is the only way.

What makes an effective legal advisor? After years advising senior leaders in Afghanistan, Iraq, on the Joint Staff, and now at a combatant command, I have seen one answer rise above the rest: trust.

Mastery of the law gets you through the door. Trust earns you a seat at the table, where your advice can enable the commander’s decision.

Mastery of the law is expected. It is the foundation of our profession. But commanders do not rely on their staff judge advocates (SJAs) simply because they know the law. Legal expertise may get you the job, but it does not earn the trust needed to advise in moments that matter.

Commanders rely on the advisors they trust to deliver clear, honest, and mission-focused counsel when the pressure is on. No matter how technically sound your advice may be, it will not enable a decision unless the commander trusts you.

In The Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker plays Ugandan leader Idi Amin.1 After a disastrous decision, Amin confronts his personal physician:

“Why didn’t you advise me against this?”

“I did!”

“Yes,” Amin replies, “but you did not persuade me!”2

That moment captures a truth many legal advisors learn too late: being right is not enough. To be effective, your advice must be heard. And to be heard, it must be trusted.

I have heard commanders ask that same question. The ones who trusted me listened. The others made decisions without the benefit of trusted legal counsel.

Purpose

Trust is not abstract. It can be built through deliberate action.

This article introduces two practical tools to help legal advisors build trust and en-able decisions: the Trust Equation3 and the ALIGN Framework.4 Both are grounded in operational experience. They are designed to help you earn your place in the room, gain a seat at the table, and deliver mission-focused options when the stakes are highest.

Why Trust Matters

Legal advice has no value if it arrives late, is misunderstood, or goes unheard.

From battalion to combatant command, judge advocates (JAs) work in real time alongside commanders and staff facing lethal consequences. The environment moves fast. Artificial intelligence accelerates targeting. Disinformation clouds facts.

When legal input arrives too late or not at all, the result is more than friction. It increases risk and degrades the quality of the decision-making process.

There is no time to build trust during a crisis. That work must be done beforehand, in the quiet moments. Earned trust is what gets legal advisors in the room when it counts.

Trust matters just as much in garrison. Investigations, justice actions, contracting, and policy choices all depend on whether the SJA is seen as a problem solver or an obstacle. When commanders trust their SJA, they bring them in early, ask the hard questions, and listen to the answers.

Trust as Combat Power

Combat power is more than weapons. It is the combined effect of people, training, doctrine, and leadership. For legal advisors, trust functions as a multiplier. It grants access, accelerates the delivery of counsel, and ensures that legal advice enables decisions at “the speed of relevance.”5

Trust is also one of the foundational principles of Mission Command. As stated in Army doctrine, “[M]utual trust is shared confidence between commanders, subordinates, and partners that they can be relied on and are competent in performing their assigned tasks.”6 Trust enables disciplined initiative and underpins decentralized execution. Legal advisors who earn it help create the conditions that allow mission command to function as designed.

Trust is not automatic. It is given and sustained over time through shared hardship, demonstrated competence, and principled action. Legal counsel must be part of that process. When the decisive moment comes, trust is what ensures the legal advisor is heard, and the advice delivered enables the commander’s decision.

The Trust Equation: How Trusted Counsel Is Built

When I first read The Trusted Advisor, I was struck by how directly it applied to the work of an SJA. The book gave me language for what I had learned through experience: trust is not abstract. It can be built with intention. The Trust Equation helped me articulate how legal advisors earn trust with not only commanders, but also across the entire staff.

To build trust deliberately, it helps to use a model from the business world. This model maps directly to the realities that JAs face in operational settings. In The Trusted Advisor, authors David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford present a formula for trust:

Each element plays a distinct role:

Credibility means legal expertise, sound judgment, and principled counsel grounded in both the law and the mission. It begins with mastering the law, but it grows through servant leadership and shared hardship. Credibility is built when leaders see that you carry the same burdens they do and that you are there to serve, not to sit on the sidelines.

Reliability is consistency and follow-through. Do you do what you say you will do? Can others count on you without reminders?

Intimacy reflects the strength of professional relationships. Do commanders and staff feel comfortable being candid with you? Intimacy shows up when a leader says, “Let me run something by you,” and they mean it.

Self-Orientation is about focus. High self-orientation appears when legal advisors protect themselves more than the mission, talk more than listen, or give advice designed to avoid personal risk instead of enabling sound decisions.

Credibility, reliability, and intimacy all increase trust. Self-orientation decreases it. The more self-oriented you are, the less likely your advice will be trusted. Ask yourself:

• Am I showing up to serve or to protect myself?

• Am I listening more than I speak?

• Am I offering real options or just citing rules?

The Trust Equation is more than a theory. It is a practical tool to help legal advisors earn trust and deliver legal advice that commanders are willing to act on when the stakes are high.

The ALIGN Framework: Building Trust in the Fight

The Trust Equation shows what trust requires. But in fast-moving operational environments, JAs need more than a formula. They need clear habits that translate trust principles into action. The ALIGN Frame-work provides that. It distills five behaviors legal advisors can use to build trust and de-liver impact when time is short and decisions are complex. They are:

A - Anticipate

Anticipate the commander’s priorities and context.

Spot issues early and offer mission-focused recommendations.

• Self-Assessment: Am I identifying legal issues before they become operational problems?
• Trust Elements Supported: Credibility and Reliability

L - Listen

Listen beyond the surface question.

Focus on tone, urgency, and what is not being said.

• Self-Assessment: Am I listening more than talking to understand the commander’s intent?
• Trust Elements Supported: Intimacy (increased); Self-Orientation (decreased)

I - Inform

Inform with timely, relevant input.

Deliver legal options before the decision is made.

• Self-Assessment: Am I providing legal advice at the optimal moment?
• Trust Elements Supported: Reliability and Credibility

G - Gain Trust

Gain Trust by maintaining consistency under pressure.

Follow through. Admit when you are wrong.

• Self-Assessment: Do my actions align with my words, especially under difficult circumstances?
• Trust Elements Supported: Reliability (increased); Self-Orientation (decreased)

N - Navigate

Navigate by tailoring your communication to match how the commander prefers to receive information and make decisions.

Some leaders want detailed analysis. Others want the bottom line up front. Your job is to adapt your delivery to match their decision-making rhythm, not the other way around.

• Self-Assessment: Am I adapting my delivery to fit this leader’s operational style?
• Trust Elements Supported: Intimacy (increased); Self-Orientation (decreased)

To highlight the importance of tailoring your communication, one of my former 4-star commanders once told me, “Your legal advice needs to fit on the screen of my phone.” He wasn’t criticizing complexity. He was reminding me to be brief, mission-fo-cused, and aligned with how senior leaders take in information. When you adapt your delivery to match your audience, your advice is more likely to be heard, understood, and used.

ALIGN is not a checklist. It is a mind-set. It reinforces the behaviors that ensure your legal advice shapes decisions when time is short and the stakes are high.

Trust Across the Command: Commander and Staff

As a legal advisor, your most important client is the commander. But your responsibility extends to the entire staff. To be effective, you must earn trust from both.

Commanders rarely choose their SJAs, but they always choose who they trust. They remember who stepped up, flagged risk, and followed through when it mattered. Trust is built or lost through daily conduct, not rank or résumé.

Similarly, I’ve arrived in commands where parts of the staff had reservations about Legal and trust hadn’t been established yet. I made it my mission to change that, one conversation at a time. I listened. I showed up with solutions, and I made sure Legal never slowed the mission. Over time, they saw we weren’t there to say no. We were there to help get to yes, legally and fast.

Building Trust with the Commander

These six habits, drawn from the Trust Equation and ALIGN Framework, help build trust with commanders:

• Be transparent. Lay out legal constraints and options clearly. Surprises destroy trust and erode credibility. This habit sup-ports Inform in the ALIGN Framework.

• Be responsive. Speed matters in crisis. Be fast, accurate, and dependable. Reliable legal support builds trust and reflects the Gain Trust element of the ALIGN Framework.

• Set expectations. Never overpromise. Frame legal risk honestly and let the commander decide. This reduces Self-Orientation and supports the Navigate element of the ALIGN Framework.

• Advocate for the mission. Understand operational goals. Show that Legal is a partner, not a brake. This builds Intimacy and aligns with both the Anticipate and Gain Trust elements of the ALIGN Framework.

• Stay humble. Admit what you don’t know. Follow up with answers that move the mission. This reinforces trust and lowers Self-Orientation, a core component of the Trust Equation.

• Listen closely. Focus on tone, intent, and what’s left unsaid. Listening earns more influence than speaking and supports the Listen and Navigate elements of the ALIGN Framework.

Trusted legal advisors do more than support the commander. They scale their influence by earning trust across the staff.

Building Trust Across the Staff

Staff officers in operations, intelligence, and planning must see Legal as a problem-solver. If they trust you, they bring Legal in early. If they do not, you get looped in too late to support anything that matters.

Here are five ways to earn trust across the staff:

• Build relationships. Sit in on updates. Walk the halls. Show up where they work. Trust is built in daily routines, not in scheduled briefs. The stronger your network, the more often your advice will be heard.

• Learn their mission. Understand how the J3, J5, and other sections think and operate. Ask smart questions. Shadow them. The more you understand their world, the more they will rely on your advice.

• Be responsive. Return calls quickly. Better yet, walk down the hall and talk in person. Deliver options that move the mission forward and stay within the law.

• Train and advise early. Offer short, relevant sessions on topics like targeting, declassification, or media engagement. Write information papers before anyone asks. Anticipate the need.

• Get into planning cycles. Coordinate with the chief of staff to embed your team in the right meetings. Walk the process with the staff. Raise legal concerns before decisions are made.

When both the commander and the staff trust you, Legal becomes an operational enabler. You are no longer just reviewing products. You are helping shape the mission.

Lesson from the Field: Credibility Earns Trust

In Iraq, I was advising a special operations task force when the commander called me in after a complex mission brief. He was concerned about the law of armed conflict because the team would be in close proximity to the target at the moment of direct action.

I picked up a marker and drew a stick figure on the whiteboard.

“If this same target were hit from an aircraft,” I asked, “would you be concerned?”

“No,” he said. “We do that every night.”

I reminded him of several similar missions he had already approved. Then I wrote one sentence on the board:

Proximity to the target does not change the law of war.

He stared at it for a moment. Then nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll do it.”

Later, he told the staff, “It wasn’t the law that convinced me. It was the lawyer.”

That moment was not just about the law. It was about trust. The commander moved forward because he trusted the person delivering the advice, not just the advice itself.

When You Are Not in the Room

Not every story ends with a commander saying, “It was the lawyer who convinced me.” Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself brought into discussions later in the process than would be ideal. I have been there. If you find yourself on the outside looking in, start here:

• Stay mission-focused. Do your job. Show up with timely, accurate, and relevant legal advice, even when no one asks.
• Build lateral trust across the staff. If the chief of staff, J3, or J5 values your input, they will advocate for your inclusion. Trust is often built across the staff before it reaches the commander.
• Avoid ego and confrontation. Do not say, “You should have called me.” Do not complain about being left out. Do not take it personally. Stay humble. Stay visible. Stay useful.
• Assess how you show up. Are you listening more than you speak? Are you offering solutions or just identifying the problems? Are you helping the mission or protecting yourself?
• Some commanders are slow to trust. Others test their advisors before bringing them in. Even if you are not in the room today, every interaction is a chance to build credibility.
• Keep showing up. Do the work. Earn your seat without asking for it.

Final Word: Trust Is the Mission

Your title does not grant trust. Rank does not guarantee it. Trust is earned through clarity, humility, competence, and consistency. It is built day by day, in how you show up, listen, follow through, and enable decisions.

Treat trust like a combat capability. Build it early. Protect it fiercely. Rely on it when the stakes are high.

Commanders will not remember your legal analysis. They will remember whether your advice helped them make the right call when it mattered most.

The Trust Equation shows how trust is earned. The ALIGN Framework shows how to apply it. Together, they lead to one outcome: legal advice that is not only correct but trusted enough to help shape decisions.

That is the standard. Trusted counsel does not just inform the mission; it drives it forward. TAL

Notes