Two programs help officers join JAG Corps

  • Published
Company grade officers who want to join forces with the Air Force's Judge Advocate General Corps will have a chance from January to March.

Two programs, the Funded Legal Education Program and the Excess Leave Program, allow active-duty officers to pursue law degrees without ever leaving the Air Force, and to serve in the JAG Corps. Both programs begin accepting applications in January, and will provide the Air Force with lawyers who already have a good understanding of the military, JAG officials said.

"Commanders demand and deserve legal advisers who understand our ever-changing missions,” said Lt. Col. Peter Marksteiner, of the JAG professional development division. “FLEP supplies us with a cadre of officers whose military experience powerfully supplements their legal training to provide commanders with the very finest legal support.

“Having JAGs with a first-hand appreciation of what it’s like to work in other career fields builds an affinity with the rest of the line," he said.

The funded program accounts for about 6 percent of accessions into the JAG Corps, Marksteiner said. But, he said, program graduates make up about 20 percent of the JAG Corps’ senior leaders.

It is a paid legal-studies program for active-duty Air Force officers. Program applicants must be captains with between two and six years of active-duty service as of the first day of law school.

The leave program is an unpaid legal studies program for Air Force officers. Program applicants must have two to 10 years of active-duty service before entering law school. They must also be a captain with less than three years of time in grade or lower ranking as of the first day of law school.

Entry into the programs is not easy, Marksteiner said.

"Officers selected for FLEP typically have undergraduate grade point averages of 3.5 and Law School Admissions Test scores in the top (83rd) percentile," he said.

Air Force JAGs do more than just legal assistance, Marksteiner said. JAG officers routinely participate in nearly every facet of the Air Force mission, including developing and acquiring weapons systems and ensuring availability of airspace and ranges where those systems are tested and operated. They also consult with commanders about how those systems are used in armed conflict and assist in the day-to-day running of military installations worldwide.

“The scope of literally everything our service does is bounded by the law in one way or another," Marksteiner said.

Applicants must have completed all application forms and applied to a law school that has been accredited by the American Bar Association; however, acceptance into the school is not required at time of application. They must also receive their Law School Admissions Test results and complete a staff judge advocate interview by March 1.

For more information, contact Capt. Theresa Bruno, of the JAG professional development division, at Theresa.bruno@pentagon.af.mil, call (800) JAG-USAF, or visit www.jagusaf.hq.af.mil.