Early career While at Trinity, Suter was involved in the school's
ROTC program. At
Fort Hood in 1958, he had the opportunity to meet
Elvis Presley, who was going through basic training at the time. After graduating from a basic armor officer's course, Suter attended the Judge Advocate General's School in
Charlottesville, Virginia. As a captain in the mid-1960s, Suter was a popular instructor of administrative law to hundreds of new judge advocates attending their initial training at the JAG School. Before moving on to his next assignment in
Thailand, he attended airborne training at
Fort Benning, Georgia where he earned his parachutist badge. In 1971, he volunteered for service in
Vietnam and was assigned as the Chief, Law Division in
Long Binh. After less than four months, Suter was made Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of U.S. forces in Vietnam.
A young leader A year later, Suter became the Assistant for Plans in the
Judge Advocate General's Corps Plans, Personnel and Training Office and worked at
the Pentagon. Following graduation from the Command and General Staff School at
Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas in 1974, Suter was moved to
Fort Campbell,
Kentucky and made a Staff Judge Advocate for the
101st Airborne Division, where his division commander was future Army Chief of Staff
John A. Wickham. Coincidentally, Suter also served with future
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell while with the 101st. After graduating from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1980, Suter returned to the Judge Advocate General's School. After spending one year as deputy commandant, the then-colonel was made commandant of the school in 1981. Following his promotion to brigadier general, Suter was assigned as Commander, U.S. Army Legal Services Agency and Chief Judge, US. Army Court of Military Review (now called the
U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals), holding that position from July 3, 1984, to July 31, 1985.
Assistant Judge Advocate General With the succession of Major General
Hugh R. Overholt to
Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, the position of
Assistant Judge Advocate General would be left vacant, so, in 1985, President
Ronald Reagan nominated Suter for promotion to major general and reassignment as TAJAG; on August 1 of that year, he was sworn in. When Overholt retired in mid-1989, President
George H. W. Bush nominated Suter to be made Judge Advocate General of the Army. While his nomination was pending in the Senate, Suter, as the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, was made the acting Judge Advocate General. After a number of months, his and other nominations were returned with criticism of the organization. JAG personnel actions from 1982 were linked to allegations of
unlawful command influence in the
3rd Armored Division. Ironically, the Court of Military Review under Chief Judge Suter reversed a number of court-martial convictions arising from these allegations. In February 1991, after nearly thirty years of service, Suter retired from the Army, receiving a
Distinguished Service Medal. His other awards include the
Bronze Star, which he was given for his service in Vietnam, and the
Meritorious Service Medal. ==Clerk of the Supreme Court==