It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the death of Mr. Joseph H. Rouse who passed away at age 93 surrounded by family and friends on Thanksgiving Day, 22 November 2012. 

Widely known and recognized by many as an icon of our JAG Corps, Mr. Rouse tallied a total of 71 years of combined federal service as a World War II Infantry combat veteran; a retired JAG Corps colonel; and, until the day of his death, as the Deputy Chief, Tort Claims Division, U.S. Army Claims Service.

Mr. Joseph Rouse was born on 28 June 1919 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Joe attended Baltimore public schools and Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College), where he graduated in June 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.  Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in June 1941, he entered the U.S. Army at Fort Meade and served as an Infantry officer throughout World War II, participating in the campaigns for North Africa and Italy.  In 1947, he attended the University of Louisville Law School (now Brandeis School of Law) and graduated in June 1950 with a Juris Doctor.

After law school, Mr. Rouse served in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.  After an initial assignment in Orleans, France, where he reviewed claims submitted by French citizens in post-war Europe and defended American Soldiers at courts-martial, he had several assignments in the European and Pacific Theaters and within the United States.  Joe was adept in all areas of military legal practice and distinguished himself as an able and effective courts-martial prosecutor and defense counsel.  Specializing in claims for the majority of his federal career, Joe was instrumental in establishing claims procedures under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement and in developing the Army’s claims regulations used today.

Mr. Rouse retired from active duty in August 1971 with the rank of Colonel and he entered federal civil service at the U.S. Army Claims Service, Fort Meade, Maryland.  He served in various team and branch positions with Claims Service culminating in his appointment in 1989 as Deputy Chief, Tort Claims Division.  His contributions were profound and his accolades numerous.  At the request of the Department of Justice, Mr. Rouse drafted the initial regulations for administrative-claim processing under the Federal Tort Claims Act.  He pioneered the development of structured settlements and reversionary trusts to resolve tort claims.  In 1977, he developed and codified by regulation the appeal and request for reconsideration procedures under the Military Claims Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act.  In 1984, he began the yearly publication of the Tort Claims Handbook, a case-law annotated survey of military claims topics and procedures.  In 1993, The Judge Advocate General recognized him as the Army’s outstanding lawyer.  In 2009, he was selected as the first recipient of the Career in Claims Award.

Joe Rouse was a wise lawyer and an energetic and inspirational leader.  Devoted to his family, he is survived by five children, fourteen grandchildren, and fifteen great grandchildren.

Joe donated his remains to the School of Medicine for the University of Maryland.  Funeral and memorial arrangements will be announced at a later time.

Notes of condolence for the family may be sent to Commander, U.S. Army Claims Service, Office of The Judge Advocate General, 4411 Llewellyn Avenue, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland 20755-5360.

Please keep the Rouse family in your thoughts and prayers at this most difficult of times.

DANA K. CHIPMAN

LTG, US Army

The Judge Advocate General