Military Law Forum

(Issue areas, International Law, International Public Interest, Public Service in the private sector, Non-Profits, Public Interest Organizations, Government/ government agencies, employment settings)
Maples24

New
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:25 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by Maples24 » Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:23 pm

I have experience with the Army Judge Advocate medical waiver process. When I went through it, I was sent an email listing the specific condition that required a waiver and was told to gather evidence to rebut the disqualification (i.e., show that the condition doesn't exist) and/or gather evidence to show that the disqualifying medical condition would not impact my performance. This evidence included letters from doctors, medical records, a personal statement, letters from work supervisors and letters from colleagues/people I go to the gym with. JARO provided me with samples. Feel free to PM for details.[/quote][/quote]

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:53 pm

If you guys were informed you need a medical waiver, and have not been contacted by JARO, I would call JARO. They will eventually email you, but I wouldn't wait on them, or else you'll be waiting a lot longer than you need to.

Roclandsfinest23

Bronze
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:58 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by Roclandsfinest23 » Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:41 pm

Anonymous User wrote:If you guys were informed you need a medical waiver, and have not been contacted by JARO, I would call JARO. They will eventually email you, but I wouldn't wait on them, or else you'll be waiting a lot longer than you need to.

What if you weren't informed that you needed a waiver and are just waiting on the HRC clearing

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:34 pm

Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.

Swooshe

New
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 07, 2016 8:47 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Swooshe » Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:01 pm

PB, you've mentioned a few times that the exit options for JAGs who were more focused on contracting are pretty good. I know that wasn't your area, but could you expand a bit on what paths you've seen JAGs take in this field? I know the VA and GSA do a ton of contracting and I'd assume being a former contracting-focused JAG might help there. Are there DOJ opportunities in that field? Do you think your 6-year recommendation would apply in contracting as well?

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:16 am

Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.

User avatar
Patrick Bateman

Silver
Posts: 837
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by Patrick Bateman » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:41 am

Swooshe wrote:PB, you've mentioned a few times that the exit options for JAGs who were more focused on contracting are pretty good. I know that wasn't your area, but could you expand a bit on what paths you've seen JAGs take in this field? I know the VA and GSA do a ton of contracting and I'd assume being a former contracting-focused JAG might help there. Are there DOJ opportunities in that field? Do you think your 6-year recommendation would apply in contracting as well?
As a preface - as you note, that is not my bailiwick. Some of the other AF JAGs on this forum may be more plugged into this subject matter - please chime in and correct me if I am off the mark on any of this.

You can get your first bite at contracting/acquisitions/procurement (I am just going to refer to this as contracts for short hand) at the base legal level when you end up in general law/civil law. There is a JA review process for the contracts that the local contracting squadron (CONS) is pushing through. Over the years, there have been a number of contracting JAG positions at the junior captain level in deployed environments as well - commanders are always needing to buy things and the process is so complicated, subject matter experts are needed almost everywhere.

After your time at base legal, you can request to move to our headquarters contracts directorate at JB Andrews, JAQ within AFLOA. JAQ is composed of 3-4 divisions, each with their own sub-specialty. The real prize if you like this line of work is selection for the contracting LLM at GW - this is generally at the senior captain/junior major level, and you pick up a service commitment of a few years for the free degree.

For exit options, they seem to be everywhere. Within the Air Force, Material Command bases have GS attorney positions by the truck load, as does JAQ. A lot of reservists I have come across have been in this sort of role within the Air Force and DOD General Counsel offices. I have seen Main Justice positions involving this background a few times, almost always at the GS-15 level. There are also loads of all other alphabet soup agencies with these positions, GSA included. All the major defense contracting firms (Boeing, Lockheed, et al) routinely hire former JAGs with experience in contracting as well.

My 6 year rule (really 6-8) is probably an acceptable general guideline for any hypothetical planning. It is all about having enough time to actually develop a marketable subject matter expertise. Having a strong skill set that you can sell to employers is going to outweigh any arbitrary measure of time, which really is just an acknowledgement of the JAGC practice of moving folks from a subject matter expertise jobs back into the field/management. An obvious exception to the 6-8 year timeline would be the LLM - you will likely be at 10 years of service when all is said and done there but I think it would be well worth it.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:47 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jul 13, 2017 7:18 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


ridethemedian

New
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2017 2:00 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by ridethemedian » Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:47 pm

Patrick Bateman wrote:
TheSpanishMain wrote:
ridethemedian wrote:Hi,
I'm a long time lurker who has decided to make a run at JAG. Through my research I feel like Army would be the best fit, but I will likely also apply to Navy and AF. If anyone could take a look at my stats and give me some pointers on things to emphasize and improve for upcoming interviews I would appreciate it. Although I can express confidence in my ability to meet the physical requirements, live the lifestyle and show commitment to service, I worry that my academic stats are a weakness. Part of my interest in JAG in the first place is that I think that the lifestyle would allow me to excel in a way that I haven't always done academically.

3L
3.2 GPA, median ranked at T2 law school. I'm working on my law review write on currently (fingers crossed) and can point to A's in advocacy and criminal procedure classes. I worked 2 semesters at state AG offices and currently work at a private full service civil firm where I do a lot of real work.
I'm on the board of our school's ACLU chapter.
I was an All American and team captain of a varsity sport at a D1 school. I exercise daily and will have no problems with the physical requirements. No military family or prior military background.

I will also be married prior to receiving bar results. Any thoughts or perspectives from active-duty or recently commissioned that are in long term relationships?
You should be reasonably competitive. It's good that you're primarily interested in the Army, since the Army takes by far the most people. I think being a former college athlete will be very helpful. In addition to demonstrating physical fitness, it can also be evidence of other stuff the military will appreciate: leadership, teamwork, etc.

You might be a bit behind the curve since you haven't interned with the military at all, and as a rising 3L it's a bit late. You'll want to have a compelling personal statement that explains why you're interested in the military. You don't want them to get the sense that you struck out in the private sector and the military is your fall back option.

As to being married, that's hard to answer. Lots of people in the military are married, obviously, myself included. But it can take a toll on relationships. Is your fiance prepared to deal with you being gone for a few months at a time for training? For a year if you have to deploy? Is he/she aware that you will be living wherever the military tells you to live, even if that is inconvenient for his/her career? It's very doable, but these are the things you should be thinking through and discussing.
As usual, SpanishMain is on point in his response here. From my AF perspective, my response is basically the same.

Prior athlete in a leadership role is a very good thing - even the Chair Force viewed my time as a collegiate athlete (and in a leadership role) as a strong plus on my application. Your time at the AG office will help in terms of the demonstrating an interest in public service but as noted before, the lack of any demonstrated military interest/background is a disadvantage (but one that can overcome). Be ready to sell why you want to serve as a JAG and why you want to do it in that particular service.

In terms of being married while serving - nothing to add to SpanishMain on this. Your partner needs to be 100% on board with realistic expectations, both in what service will mean for you and what it will mean for him/her (for example, depending on their career, you may end up being stationed in locations where it may be basically impossible for them to do what they had been doing.) Same with family planning - you all thinking of kids? You might not be there for important or difficult times.

My fiancé is very supportive of me and is willing to make those sacrifices. We have been long distance until recently so we know its something we can handle. I think those factors will at least be easy to have a conversation about. From a logistical standpoint however, what does the timeline look like from acceptance to appointment, JAG school and being stationed somewhere. At what point would she be able to move with me or need to be prepared to look for a job. Are there any more detailed resources about how to prepare for family life in the military?

Thanks for your earlier responses.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:40 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?
Did you get the email from JARO or HRC? I saw that JARO uploaded my files, but they never contacted me directly.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:46 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?
Did you get the email from JARO or HRC? I saw that JARO uploaded my files, but they never contacted me directly.
JARO - Monica Greene emailed me. Did you do AMRDEC SAFE? Or just email directly to usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.jaro@mail.mil? I didn't use AMRDEC SAFE and just sent them to that email address. Maybe that is why I got a response. Who knows. It's very hard to get in contact with JARO.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:54 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?
Did you get the email from JARO or HRC? I saw that JARO uploaded my files, but they never contacted me directly.
I used AMRDEC SAFE and they never sent me a confirmation. I did get the receipt saying that they had downloaded my files though. I'm not concerned about not getting the email confirmation.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


Roclandsfinest23

Bronze
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:58 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by Roclandsfinest23 » Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:35 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?
Did you get the email from JARO or HRC? I saw that JARO uploaded my files, but they never contacted me directly.
JARO - Monica Greene emailed me. Did you do AMRDEC SAFE? Or just email directly to usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.jaro@mail.mil? I didn't use AMRDEC SAFE and just sent them to that email address. Maybe that is why I got a response. Who knows. It's very hard to get in contact with JARO.
Has anyone gotten the OK from HRC for the October class?

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:05 pm

Roclandsfinest23 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just to clarify, once we got approved from DODMERB, were we supposed to do something, or did our files go automatically to HRC for review? I haven't heard anything since DODMERB back in April.
Did you do the additional medical testing? (HIV, drug, alcohol, pregnancy, etc.) Those are required before HRC will review your information.
I submitted those to JARO. Was wondering if we had to contact HRC directly for anything.
Oh I see. I submitted my tests and they emailed me back saying they would update me when they determined if I qualified. You shouldn't need to contact HRC directly. Did they confirm that they received your tests?
Did you get the email from JARO or HRC? I saw that JARO uploaded my files, but they never contacted me directly.
JARO - Monica Greene emailed me. Did you do AMRDEC SAFE? Or just email directly to usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.jaro@mail.mil? I didn't use AMRDEC SAFE and just sent them to that email address. Maybe that is why I got a response. Who knows. It's very hard to get in contact with JARO.
Has anyone gotten the OK from HRC for the October class?
Reserve Component folks heading to the October class got emails in late June.

User avatar
TwoRoads

New
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:29 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by TwoRoads » Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:18 pm

It only took me 7 months, but I've read the whole thread. I greatly appreciate all of the information that people have contributed over the years.

I have a logistical question. In the fortunate event that I get selected to join Air Force JAG under the Direct Appointment Program, what would relocating from my current location to COT, JASOC, and my first duty station look like? I understand that JASOC may come before or after I arrive at the first duty station.

In particular, I am concerned about what I do with all of my stuff (and pets) during the time I am in COT (and JASOC if it runs right after COT). Currently, I live a multi-day drive away from anyone who would watch my pets for that long, so I'm wondering - do I make the long drive to take the pets to a petsitter (seems inevitable) and put my stuff in storage for a time or continue to pay rent? What have other people done? When have people moved their belongings to a new residence at their first duty station? I'm particularly interested in the experiences of single people who didn't have a significant other to assist with these logistics.

I realize this question puts the cart way ahead of the horse, but I would like to envision what the whole process of beginning military life looks like.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:42 pm

Re: Army Reserve, does anyone know whether they will let you go straight to an IMA role out of JAOBC rather than going to a TPU first? If not, how long do you have to spend in a TPU before you can go the IMA route?

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:27 am

Anonymous User wrote:Re: Army Reserve, does anyone know whether they will let you go straight to an IMA role out of JAOBC rather than going to a TPU first? If not, how long do you have to spend in a TPU before you can go the IMA route?
Most likely no. Looking at the vacancies of what positions are currently available in the RC, all the IMA opportunities are for O-4 or higher, and there are only a handful compared to TPU slots.

User avatar
TheSpanishMain

Gold
Posts: 4744
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:26 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by TheSpanishMain » Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:39 am

Anonymous User wrote:Re: Army Reserve, does anyone know whether they will let you go straight to an IMA role out of JAOBC rather than going to a TPU first? If not, how long do you have to spend in a TPU before you can go the IMA route?
I've heard from Army Reserve types that while they don't normally let you go straight IMA, occasionally they will make an exception for someone who has prior military experience. IMAs are basically responsible for their own care and feeding, and sending someone with no military experience off on their own like that is setting them up for failure.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:23 pm

I've seen this asked a few times here but not completely answered: If we have submitted/turned in/completed any and all (and I mean any and all) required medical paperwork, tests, etc., and have been "qualified" through DODMERB, do we need to do anything to get the HRC process going, or does it begin automatically and they'll let us know when they've made a decision? Thanks in advance!

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jul 19, 2017 3:41 pm

Anonymous User wrote:I've seen this asked a few times here but not completely answered: If we have submitted/turned in/completed any and all (and I mean any and all) required medical paperwork, tests, etc., and have been "qualified" through DODMERB, do we need to do anything to get the HRC process going, or does it begin automatically and they'll let us know when they've made a decision? Thanks in advance!
Good question... I have been waiting since April to hear from HRC.

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


ML0576

New
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:27 am

Re: Military Law

Post by ML0576 » Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I've seen this asked a few times here but not completely answered: If we have submitted/turned in/completed any and all (and I mean any and all) required medical paperwork, tests, etc., and have been "qualified" through DODMERB, do we need to do anything to get the HRC process going, or does it begin automatically and they'll let us know when they've made a decision? Thanks in advance!
Good question... I have been waiting since April to hear from HRC.
Nope, you do not need to do anything. The folks at JARO will reach out to you when the time is right.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428116
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Military Law

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:46 pm

If you have people (friends, family) who are willing to watch your pets for you for a few weeks, I would recommend you arrange that, even if it means a long drive to drop them off. The alternative is long-term boarding, which is expensive and probably stressful for your furbabies.

As for the logistics of the move, people do different things, and it depends on where you are moving from, where you are moving to, and your personal situation and how much $$ you're willing and able to shell out for convenience. I would recommend putting your stuff in storage then moving it after COT/JASOC. It may be easiest to store your stuff near where you are leaving your pets (ie, at mom's house, or near where your family/friends live). If you have to pay out of pocket for storage and moving expenses, keep receipts and some of that will be reimbursed.

Also, after training, you will get some time off to find a place to live, and when you first report to a base, you get some time (I think 2 weeks?) to stay for free in the new base's billeting accommodation. Billeting varies from base to base. At some, it's the Air Force Inn hotel on base, at some it's small apartments, but usually you get one of the "nicer" accommodations because you are an officer.

My #1 recommendation if you are new to the military and coming from being a student-- get yourself a credit card with a high limit. While you are in training, you are going to have expenses that accrue (storage fees, pet boarding, initial uniform purchases, travel), and it will take a while before you start receiving your pay to cover everything. Also, it helps to have all of your bills (cell phone for instance) auto-bill to your credit card while you are in transit, that way it still gets paid while you are without an address. I have done two military moves where I was "homeless" for a short stretch, and it is the biggest pain in the ass to get mail forwarded.

Source: new JAG, 7 years as a military spouse.

User avatar
Patrick Bateman

Silver
Posts: 837
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by Patrick Bateman » Wed Jul 19, 2017 5:22 pm

Anonymous User wrote:If you have people (friends, family) who are willing to watch your pets for you for a few weeks, I would recommend you arrange that, even if it means a long drive to drop them off. The alternative is long-term boarding, which is expensive and probably stressful for your furbabies.

As for the logistics of the move, people do different things, and it depends on where you are moving from, where you are moving to, and your personal situation and how much $$ you're willing and able to shell out for convenience. I would recommend putting your stuff in storage then moving it after COT/JASOC. It may be easiest to store your stuff near where you are leaving your pets (ie, at mom's house, or near where your family/friends live). If you have to pay out of pocket for storage and moving expenses, keep receipts and some of that will be reimbursed.

Also, after training, you will get some time off to find a place to live, and when you first report to a base, you get some time (I think 2 weeks?) to stay for free in the new base's billeting accommodation. Billeting varies from base to base. At some, it's the Air Force Inn hotel on base, at some it's small apartments, but usually you get one of the "nicer" accommodations because you are an officer.

My #1 recommendation if you are new to the military and coming from being a student-- get yourself a credit card with a high limit. While you are in training, you are going to have expenses that accrue (storage fees, pet boarding, initial uniform purchases, travel), and it will take a while before you start receiving your pay to cover everything. Also, it helps to have all of your bills (cell phone for instance) auto-bill to your credit card while you are in transit, that way it still gets paid while you are without an address. I have done two military moves where I was "homeless" for a short stretch, and it is the biggest pain in the ass to get mail forwarded.

Source: new JAG, 7 years as a military spouse.
Good post and good advice!

My $.02 as someone that did all this back in the day while single (but I did have my parents helping with a few pieces of this):

No easy answer with your pets. Keeping them with a family friend/relative is probably the best option but it way too variable intensive to be able to give you definitive advice. I will also add that, if you are single, keeping pets on AD can be a serious challenge. TDYs and deployments can take you out of your house for weeks/months at a time. It is do-able but you need to make sure you have thought this out and have a plan for pet-care if the AF decides to send you back to Maxwell for a two week course.

If you end up in January COT/Feb JASOC (the most common path for DAPs that need to take the bar due to the timing of bar results. Early states like Nebraska can put you in the Oct COT class and late states like NY/CA can put you into a spring COT class) - just have them pack you up and put everything in storage. Once you get to your first assignment in April, you will indeed have time to house hunt and get a permanent address. After that, you can work with TMO to get your stuff delivered from storage. Save every receipt for your travel expenses and keep them in a binder.

A few non-sequitur thoughts I wanted to add on for any newbie JAGs:

USAA - You are eligible to get an account with them once you get your orders. Ask anyone that has served - they are outstanding to bank with. They make things like car insurance, renters insurance, and the like all very easy for military types (e.g., "I am deploying and leaving my POV at my parent's house and I need to figure out how this impacts my car insurance."). They also offer a commissioning loan of $25K at a low interest rate (1.9 - 2.9%). That can go a long way helping defray the initial expenses that really do add up.

SCRA - If you have outstanding loans, SCRA can cap the interest at 6%. Most of the major credit card companies (Amex, Chase) will also waive interest, annual fees, etc once you are on AD - for me, that has included premium credit cards like the Amex Platinum without the insane $500+ annual fee. Worth looking into. Also, make sure you understand what SCRA means in terms of breaking leases and other contracts.

Airline Lounges - If you are on orders (or sometimes just your CAC), most of the major lounges will let you in for free. Free booze and snacks. A far more civilized way to travel. Airlines typically will waive baggage checking fees as well for military (even if you are not on orders.)

VA Home Loan - If you are thinking of buying instead of renting, you need to look into this.

RoddyAA

New
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:40 pm

Re: Military Law

Post by RoddyAA » Thu Jul 20, 2017 4:14 pm

I just registered to post in this thread now that I have finally finished reading it all! I would obviously like to thank everyone who has been so unbelievably helpful so far!

I have never been in the military, but I am a rising 2L at a school that has a reputation as a very public interest oriented school (Northeastern University). I'm doing my 1L internship with a legislative committee at the state house and have already accepted a Winter internship with a trial judge in Boston. Before law school I had various volunteer positions (including abroad), I helped to form an organization which was a coalition of community and labor organizations that would work towards social and economic justice, I had internships in the community and with the government (Congress), and a couple of full-time jobs as well. I am hoping these will make me somewhat competitive, along with my grades and being selected for Law Review at my school (While I plan to try to form a team for mock trial, our school only sponsors one team a year and they give preference to teams that are all 3L's).

So anyway, I have a couple of questions as I prepare for applications this year. I am probably going to apply to the Navy SP in the fall, the USAF OYCP or the Air Force Summer Internship this year, as well as the Army AD if/when that rolls around (I am too old for the USMC). My first question is whether USAF internship or OYCP makes more sense for my situation. As I mentioned, I don't have any prior military experience, so (assuming I don't get picked up for Navy SP which would potentially make this question moot), would it be more advisable to attempt to get a 2L internship which would be *slightly* easier to get than OYCP and would help me in future boards? Furthermore, my school REQUIRES us to work full-time over the Summer quarter (but only 10-11 weeks), so I don't know if this would be extremely difficult if I had to attend field training in Alabama over the summer (and wouldn't have a lot of say in which Max I attend).

Additionally, I am in the process of getting into shape, but it has been a long road for me. I have always been an athlete, although not at an elite level. I was a three sport athlete in high school (a long time ago) and played in an adult baseball league until I left for law school last year. While I was always somewhat overweight, I got up as high as 285 after my first semester of law school when I decided that JAG was the career choice for me. Over the past 5-6 months I have lost about 40 pounds and have a goal of weighing 196 as that is my "height/weight standard" for the services (this means I'm about halfway to my goal). Assuming that I am relatively close to my goal by the time I have my interviews with the SJA's, do you think it would be advisable to tell them about my total weight loss? I can see it cutting either way: it could potentially show my dedication to JAG that I would commit to a transformation (90 pounds lost in a year) in order to qualify, but I could also see it as a negative to admit that I had allowed my physical fitness to get so out of hand that I was pushing 300lbs as a law student.

Finally, I have begun to think about who I can ask for LOR's and I am going to ask my crim professor, my supervisor when I was interning in Congress, and probably my current supervisor as well, or if not him I will try to get a LOR from the judge I will be working with this Winter. My question though is about soliciting LOR's from more junior officers. I know it has been discussed that the higher the rank the better the letter, but I don't really have any connections at a higher level (maybe this is a reason I should apply for the internship instead of OYCP?) other than a friend of a friend who just made O-6 and has been very helpful with advice through the process. I have a very close law school friend who is an Army Airborne O-3, a HS friend I reconnected with a couple of years ago who is an O-3 in the 82nd Airborne, and a former colleague who got promoted to my supervisor at a previous job who retired after 20 years in the Navy as an E-8. Would it make sense to ask any of these people to write a letter if they can speak to my fitness to be an officer, or would it be better to max out professors and supervisors who might be able to write letters about my academics, etc.?

Once again I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so much amazing information to this thread; it has been great to go through over the past few months.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Public Interest & Government”