Will A. Gunn

Will A. Gunn is an attorney with a distinguished record of public service including a 25 year career as an Air Force officer.  He currently serves as chairman of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Youth at Risk.  Prior to leaving active duty in 2005, Gunn served as the first Chief Defense Counsel in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions.  In that role, he was responsible for supervising the defense of Guantanamo Bay detainees who were facing military commissions.  The military defense attorneys under Gunn’s leadership vigorously defended their clients and brought the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld lawsuit in which the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision invalidating the system set up by President Bush to try accused war criminals at Guantanamo.  These efforts radically changed public perceptions about military lawyers and raised international attention on the Guantanamo prison camp.

After retiring from the Air Force, Gunn served as President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and he now has a law practice defending military personnel stationed all over the world.  He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1980 with military honors and is a 1986 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School.  In 1990, Gunn was selected as a White House Fellow and was assigned to the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs. He is a licensed minister and serves on the board of Christian Service Charities.