Rodger A. Drew

Colonel Rodger A. Drew, Jr., was the Staff Judge Advocate for the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), located in Miami, Florida, which is one of ten unified Combatant Commands in the Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for Central and South America, and parts of the Caribbean, including Cuba; as well as for the force protection of U.S. military resources at these locations. SOUTHCOM is also responsible for ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal and canal area. SOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of more than 1,200 military and civilian personnel representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and several other federal agencies.

Colonel Drew was born in Merced, California, and, as a military dependent, was raised primarily in San Antonio, Texas. A member of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1984. During an educational delay he attended the University of Houston School of Law, graduating in 1987. He entered extended active duty as a judge advocate in December 1987. He has served as a trial counsel, area defense counsel, circuit defense counsel, civil litigation attorney, staff judge advocate, and military judge. 

Colonel Drew has taught on various litigation, judicial methodology, courtroom technology, human rights, and international humanitarian law topics as an adjunct faculty member of The Judge Advocate General’s School, United States Air Force; The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, United States Army; the National Judicial College, and the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies.