Charles D. Swift
L t . Commander
Lieutenant Commander Charles D. Swift is assigned to the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of Military Commissions. As Military Defense Counsel, he is responsible for the zealous defense of the Accused before the Military Commissions. His duties also include providing administrative assistance to the Chief Defense Counsel.
Lt. Commander Swift is a 1984 graduate of the United States
Naval Academy. After graduation, he served as the Damage Control Assistant onboard the USS Niagara Falls, as the Navigator onboard the USS Rathburne, and as the Assistant for International Training, at the Surface Warfare Department Head School. Lt. Commander Swift left active service to attend law school at Seattle University School,
(formerly the University of Puget Sound School of Law), in 1991.
After graduating cum laude, he affiliated with the navy's Judge Advocate Generals Corp and returned to active service in 1994. His initial assignment as Judge Advocate was as a defense counsel and legal assistance officer at Naval Legal Service Northwest where he was selected as the Junior Officer of the Year for 1997. His next assignment was as Staff Judge Advocate and Special Assistant United States Attorney for Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto
Rico where he participated extensively in the litigation involving the Navy's target range at Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Most recently he was assigned as the Officer-in Charge of the Navy's second largest Naval Legal Service Detachment at Naval Station Mayport , Florida, where he in addition to representing individual service members he was responsible for the oversight of the military and civilian attorneys and Legalmen assigned to his detachment.
Lt. Commander Swift has nine years of litigation experience, six of those as a defense counsel and has represented more than 150 service members in military justice proceedings including serving as lead military counsel in more than 20 contested courts-martials.
Lieutenant Commander Swift is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state of North Carolina and is a native of that State.