Military Judge Advocate General (JAG) Lawyers: All You Need To Know
When you think of the average lawyer, what comes to mind? Many would imagine someone in a fancy suit and briefcase who specializes in their own area of law. You could be picturing a criminal lawyer like Saul Goodman, a corporate lawyer like Harvey Spector, or, if you had a rough go of things, maybe even a divorce lawyer!
The point is, there are plenty of lawyers for all sorts of things, just like there are for the U.S. military. That’s right, every branch of the U.S. military besides the Space Force has its own lawyers. Known as the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, or JAG for short, military lawyers practice law for, you guessed it, the U.S. Military!
But why does the U.S. military have its own lawyers? What exactly do they do? What makes military lawyers different from civilian lawyers? What types of laws do they practice? And how does one become a military lawyer in each branch? We’re going to answer all of those questions for you and much more.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MILITARY LAWYERS: ARMY JAG TRAINING
MILITARY LAWYERS: NAVY JAG TRAINING
MILITARY LAWYERS: MARINE CORPS JAG AND TRAINING
MILITARY LAWYERS: AIR FORCE JAG
MILITARY LAWYERS: AIR FORCE JAG TRAINING
MILITARY LAWYERS: COAST GUARD JAG
MILITARY LAWYERS: COAST GUARD JAG TRAINING
MILITARY LAWYERS: OVERVIEW
Before we dive into each of the military branch’s specific lawyers, we’re going to provide an overview of military lawyers as a whole. For starters, all military lawyers are bona fide lawyers. They have all gone through law school and passed the bar exam. While civilian lawyers will take a bar exam and only be admitted to practice in the state they apply for, military lawyers get to take one bar exam and get the chance to practice law across the globe.
Typically, military lawyers will apply for and join while they’re finishing up law school or after practicing in the civilian world for a number of years. They take graduates from both top-ranked law schools, such as Harvard and Yale, and also lower-ranked law schools all across the country. But make no mistake, the JAG Corps is highly selective. They’ve been known to have acceptance rate percentages in the single digits or teens.
MILITARY LAWYERS: TRAINING
If someone is selected to be a JAG officer, they don’t just jump in and start practicing law immediately. The military will have them go through a form of basic officer training. That’s right, all JAGs are commissioned officers. Officers make the most money in the military, and the military knows that civilian lawyers can make a lot of money, so they try to make their pay competitive. Most military lawyers skip O-1 and start at either the O-2 or O-3 rank.
Military lawyers also get thrown into the fire much sooner. Unlike many junior lawyers in private firms who spend their early years conducting research, military lawyers will be involved in real-world legal experience from the moment they enter the JAG Corps. There are a variety of areas of law that military lawyers can practice, but two of the most unique are Operations Law and Military Justice. Operations law deals with planning and executing the deployment and employment of U.S. forces in both peacetime and combat military operations and military justice predominantly deals with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is an extra set of laws that military members are subject to. This means that a military lawyer could be prosecuting a service member for a UCMJ violation, or they could be deployed overseas, advising a commander on the best course of action to take from a legal perspective.
The opportunities military lawyers get will depend on which branch they serve in. With that said, let’s move on to each of the branches’ lawyers, starting with Army JAG.
MILITARY LAWYERS: ARMY JAG
The United States Army JAG Corps stands as the largest among the various branches of the JAG Corps. Because of its large size, there is a wide range of opportunities for lawyers serving in this branch.
Army lawyers are guaranteed a diverse and dynamic legal practice, ranging from military justice, administrative law, criminal law, national security law, international law, and many others. They also work closely with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. But above all, the Army JAG Corps is known for its expertise in military justice and national security law. Army lawyers have played a key role in developing and implementing the law of war, so much so that they have been at the forefront of the Army’s efforts to combat cyberwarfare and other emerging threats.
Because of the nature of the Army mission, Army lawyers’ duties can range from stateside legal work all the way to overseas deployments where they may be conducting their legal work in enemy territory. Yes, this means that they can be deployed to war zones and other dangerous places to provide legal support to soldiers and commanders. Remember, they’re soldiers first, officers second, and lawyers third, so although their primary mission and duties will always be practicing law, it is not unheard of for them to be utilized in other non-legal positions.
MILITARY LAWYERS: ARMY JAG TRAINING
That is why there are a plethora of opportunities for Army lawyers to receive additional training in not only the law but also military-specific training. For example, the Army JAG school offers Master of Law programs where military lawyers can take their legal expertise to the next level. Not only that, but Army lawyers can work with special operations, go to jump school, air assault school, ranger school, and a whole lot more.
Beyond law school, the specific training that Army lawyers must go through is the Direct Commission Course (DCC), which is a six-week intensive physical, weapons, and leadership course that prepares them to serve as Army officers. After completing that, they will attend the 10.5-week Judge Advocate Basic Training Course, which immerses them in military law and teaches them every aspect of the JAG Corps organization, function, and mission. After that, they will report to their first duty station as O-2s and will typically be promoted to O-3 within six months.
With Army JAG covered, let’s move on to Navy JAG.
MILITARY LAWYERS: NAVY JAG
Because the Navy is unique among the other branches due to its ability to project power in all domains, namely land, sea, and air, Navy lawyers will experience one of the most diverse legal practices available to attorneys.
The Navy JAG Corps consists of naval officers who serve in the capacity of lawyers. Even though they’re sailors first, officers second, and lawyers third, it’s important to note that they are what is called a restricted line officer. Simply speaking, restricted line officers are specialists who stay within their communities. They can be in command so long as that command has to do with their job. For example, a Navy lawyer would never be in charge of an aircraft carrier, but they could take charge of a legal command.
Navy lawyers’ areas of practice will typically reflect that of the U.S. Navy’s mission, which is mainly maritime-focused. Thus, Navy lawyers can find themselves working not only in admiralty and maritime law but also in military justice, national security law, administrative law, environmental law, criminal law, and a whole lot more.
Navy lawyers also have many unique opportunities. They can work on ships, deploy with Navy SEALs, advise Naval Special Warfare, work with the Seabees, NCIS, and any other area the Navy has its hands in.
MILITARY LAWYERS: NAVY JAG TRAINING
Because Navy JAG officers are restricted-line officers, they do not have to go through the same officer training that traditional naval officers do. Instead, they attend the five-week Officer Development School, also known as the “fork and knife school”. At ODS, they will be introduced to the basics needed to assimilate into the military and how to conduct themselves as naval officers. After ODS, they will attend the ten-week Basic Lawyer Course at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon completion of that, they will report to their first duty station as O-2s and will be promoted to O-3s roughly a year after that.
With Navy JAG covered, let’s move on to Marine Corps JAG.
MILITARY LAWYERS: MARINE CORPS JAG AND TRAINING
The Marine Corps JAG Corps sets itself apart from the other JAG Corps by providing its lawyers with arguably the most extensive military training and the greatest chances to take on non-legal positions.
In contrast to the Army and Navy, where JAG candidates undergo a relatively short 5 to 6-week military training program before transitioning to military legal training and starting their careers, the Marine Corps takes a different approach. The Marines consider their lawyers to be Marine Officers first and lawyers second. Regardless of the specific officer job, all Marine Corps officers, including lawyers, are required to complete the standard ten-week Officer Candidates School and an additional six-month program known as The Basic School. This comprehensive training ensures that Marine lawyers are fully integrated into the Marine Corps as versatile officers.
After the Basic School, Marine lawyers will attend the Naval Justice School along with their Navy lawyer counterparts and then move on to their first duty station. In a nutshell, the Marine Corps JAG Corps is the best choice for those wanting to get the most “military” out of their JAG experience, whereas it might not seem like an attractive option for those who just want to get straight to the point and practice law.
But the training every Marine lawyer receives affects how their career can shape out. Unlike their other JAG counterparts, Marine lawyers are unrestricted officers, meaning that they can serve in various positions open to Marine Officers in other occupational fields, such as an operations officer, executive officer, or commanding officer, which is pretty cool.
But even though they’re in the Marine Corps, there’s still legal work to be done. Areas of law that Marine lawyers can work in include, but are not limited to, operations law, international law, cyber law, criminal justice, and advising Marine Corps and Naval units. They can also work with NCIS and Marine CID.
Marine lawyers typically start at either O-1 or O-2, depending on the way they joined, and then move on to rank up similar to the rest of their Marine Officer counterparts.
With Marine JAG covered, let’s move on to Air Force JAG.
MILITARY LAWYERS: AIR FORCE JAG
The Air Force is known to have some of the best quality of life features out of the U.S. military, and Air Force JAG is no exception. While the Air Force might get a lot of loving flack from everyone else, it definitely has one of the best reputations for taking care of their own.
Air Force lawyers have the luxury of practicing in two of the most unique areas of law for military lawyers: Air and Space Law. With the newly formed Space Force back in 2019, there has been a significant push into the Space Domain, and Air Force lawyers are leading the front when it comes to the legal side of things.
Not only that, but Air Force lawyers also practice in a full range of legal areas, such as Civil Admin Law, Tort Law, Operations Law, Criminal Law, Cyber Law, International Law, and much more. They can also work with the Office of Special Investigations. Because the Air Force is a smaller branch, this allows for Air Force lawyers to work in multiple billets, as compared to bigger branches where each JAG will generally do one job.
Additionally, unlike some of the other JAG Corps that tend to put more focus on only military matters, Air Force lawyers are known to generally handle almost all of the legal needs of their base, including civilian matters, which makes them like a “jack of all trades," able to handle a variety of matters in different contexts at the same time.
Another thing that makes Air Force lawyers unique to the rest of the Air Force officers is that although they are considered professional officers, just like doctors and chaplains are, they are also considered line officers in the Line of the Air Force. In a nutshell, that means that Air Force lawyers are eligible to assume command and work in non-legal positions, although this doesn’t happen too often.
MILITARY LAWYERS: AIR FORCE JAG TRAINING
Air Force JAG candidates will attend the 8-week Officer Training School (OTS), which teaches them the basics of becoming an Air Force officer, and then follow on to attend the Judge Advocate Staff Officer Course. This is a nine-week course where students will be trained on Air Force legal practice. Upon completion of that, they will report to their first duty station as O-2s and will be promoted to O-3s after 6 months of service.
With Air Force JAG covered, let’s move on to the last, but certainly not least, of the military lawyers, Coast Guard JAG.
MILITARY LAWYERS: COAST GUARD JAG
Don’t sleep on the Coast Guard - they have some pretty damn cool opportunities in a wide array of career fields, especially with their JAGs. For example, they’re the only branch with lawyers who can start right off the bat as an O-3, which is a pretty sweet deal.
The U.S. Coast Guard as a whole is very unique as a military branch because it falls under the Department of Homeland Security in times of peace and goes under the Department of the Navy in times of war. Thus, the Coast Guard JAG’s mission and purpose generally align much more with the DHS than they do with the military. So not only do Coast Guard lawyers need to be familiar with military laws, but they also need to be experts in DHS policy.
The Coast Guard is also a very small branch, so they do not have as many lawyers as the other branches do. Due to the lack of personnel, Coast Guard lawyers need to act like general counsels and are expected to know a little bit about everything within the Coast Guard. While the other military branches’ lawyers have a big part in military justice, it really isn’t in the Coast Guard’s forte. With that said, they do have a really small military justice-specific team, but this is one of the areas that Coast Guard lawyers aren’t really expected to work in.
Aside from that, Coast Guard lawyers do a lot of administrative law, contract law, environmental law, and operations law and work closely with the Coast Guard Investigative Service. And because the Coast Guard is the lead federal maritime law enforcement agency, they also deal with many of those concerns. It’s also important to note that Coast Guard lawyers are also line officers, meaning they can be assigned to a non-legal position; however, this is extremely rare.
MILITARY LAWYERS: COAST GUARD JAG TRAINING
Coast Guard JAG candidates do not have to attend the traditional OCS like their other Coast Guard officer counterparts. Instead, they attend a five-week course known as the Direct Commission Officer Course. DCO prepares them with a foundation of basic administrative and leadership skills on which to build a career as a Coast Guard officer. After DCO, they’ll join their Navy and Marine Corps JAG counterparts at the Naval Justice School and then move on to their first duty assignment.
MILITARY LAWYERS: CONCLUSION
Lawyers in the U.S. military play a crucial role in criminal law, and a big component of that is each of the military branches’ law enforcement agencies. That’s right, there’s more to military law enforcement besides the NCIS.
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