The Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel (OGC) held its 2016 Annual Training Symposium at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, May 23-26.

The event provided an opportunity for participants to obtain continuing legal education that is a requirement to maintain their license to practice law, and to remain current in recent developments in the law.

"The symposium is so important because of the wealth of legal knowledge in one place," said Blaine Nicholson, assistant counsel, who has been with OGC since February 2016. "I have been impressed with the experienced attorneys' willingness to share and mentor me as a junior member of OGC. Also, the distinguished history of the OGC gives us junior attorneys a sense of pride we may not get at other organizations."

The OGC is responsible for developing legal solutions for challenges facing the Navy and Marine Corps and how its business is conducted.

"With almost 1,000 attorneys and support staff in over 140 locations throughout the world, we use this opportunity to get together to continue our legal education and share knowledge," said Anne Brennan, principal deputy general counsel and this year's William R. Molzahn Leadership Award recipient.

For 75 years since its founding in 1941, the OGC has enabled the nation's warfighters by developing innovative legal solutions to business and other challenges facing the Navy and Marine Corps.

From the settlement of a lawsuit claiming in excess of $1 billion associated with the termination of a contract to develop the A-12 carrier-based stealth aircraft, to providing counsel against the use of extreme interrogation techniques and the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the DON's use of sonar in critical training -- everything the OGC does is in support of Sailors and Marines across the fleet, said Brennan.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was the senior Navy leadership speaker for this event and took the time to highlight some of the accomplishments of the OGC during his time as SECNAV.

"Some of the things we've done would not have been possible without this group," said Mabus. "Expanding maternity leave, updating outdated advancements, the career intermission program, the Fleet Scholars Education Program, task force innovation -- all of those things I just mentioned had its intellectual underpinnings from the people in this room, and because of that we have a better force."

During the event, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Honorable Jeh Johnson, received the Eugene P. Angrist Award. The award was developed in May 2000 in the honor of Angrist who had a long an illustrious career as a DON OGC leader. The award is given to those who have rendered a high level of service to the Navy and nation.

"It is an honor to be able to receive this award, named after a career lawyer," said Johnson. "The level of satisfaction of civilians who serve our nation is truly astounding. I am proud to be a part of this legacy."

The symposium wrapped up with a panel of five former DON General Counsels who answered questions and passed on knowledge and advice for the years to come.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more news from Defense Media Activity, visit http://www.navy.mil/.