Eric Widmar

Non-Resident Senior Fellow

Brigadier General (Ret.) Eric W. Widmar is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. He is also Counsel in the National Security practice group of Brown Rudnick LLP in Washington, D.C.

General Widmar retired from the U.S. Army in 2026 after more than 28 years of service. In his final assignment, he served as Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the principal military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.

General Widmar previously held a number of senior legal positions, including Staff Judge Advocate (General Counsel) for U.S. Central Command, directing a joint legal enterprise across the Middle East and Central and South Asia. He also served as an Army War College Fellow and Associate General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where he advanced intelligence-sharing agreements with partners and allies and supported the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Earlier in his career, he served as the senior legal counsel to special operations and conventional forces with five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He began his career as an infantry officer in the 25th Infantry Division in 1998.

General Widmar was Military Professor of International Law and Associate Director for the Law of Land Warfare at the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College where he taught International Law and Military Operations and later co-authored, with Michael N. Schmitt, “‘On Target’: Precision and Balance in the Contemporary Law of Targeting” in the Journal of National Security Law & Policy. The two also co-authored “The Law of Targeting,” a chapter in Targeting: The Challenges of Modern Warfare (T.M.C. Asser Press). General Widmar holds an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, where he received the Distinguished Graduate award. He also holds an LL.M. in Military Law from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School and a J.D., cum laude, from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. He earned a B.S. in Comparative Politics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated as a Distinguished Cadet. General Widmar was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 2024.