JAG2011 

no. 2 

vol. 14 

Official Magazine of the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps 

Navy lawyers support U.S. relief operations in 

response to the earthquake, tsunami in Japan

Operation Tomodachi
2 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

The JAG Magazine is an authorized publication for members of the DoD. Comments are not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Government, DoD, or U.S. Navy. This magazine is prepared by the public affairs staff of the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy. 

Submissions are welcome on all Navy JAG Corps-related topics and, if published, are subject to editing for length and clarity. Written and photographic submissions that show active 

and Reserve judge advocates and legalmen are strongly encouraged. We prefer to receive all written and photographic submissions by e-mail to natalie.morehouse@navy.mil. Images 

should include captions and be unmodified; digital files should measure at least 300dpi at 5x7 inches. All submissions must include the author’s full name, rank, duty contact telephone 

number and e-mail address. Feature articles should be 750 to 1000 words. Accompanying photos should show emotion or action if possible. 

If necessary, send submissions by regular postal mail to: Office of the Judge Advocate General, Attn: Public Affairs Office, 1322 Patterson Avenue, S.E., Bldg. 33, Suite 3000, 

Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066. Telephone inquiries should be made to (202) 685-5394. 

4 On the frontlines of due process in Afghanistan

6 Doing our utmost to help a friend in need

11 Legalman Paralegal Education Program

12 A legalman’s perspective of counterinsurgency contracting

13 What’s in an OJAG code?

14 Postgraduate school profiles 

Columns

INSIDE

On the Front Cover

FEATURES

CAPT Scott Thompson - Military Personnel (Code 61)

15 

16 

28 

29

30

32 

34 

CDR Jonathan G. Odom

LNC Harrold Henck

LT Andrew D. Murray

LN2 Dexter Robison, Jr.

CDR Adrian Ragland, commanding officer of USS Tortuga (LSD46) and LT Louis Butler with a Japan Maritime Self Defense Force 

commander as they prepare to step off Landing Craft Utility 1627 

in Ominato, Japan while USS Tortuga was offloading more than 

90 Japanese Military vehicles and more than 300 Japanese military 

personnel to support tsunami and earthquake relief efforts.

JAG Corps 2020.1 

Fleet News

Alumni 

Civilians

Book Review: The Golden Thirteen

Milestones Around the Corps

Photos From the Fleet 
jag.navy.mil 3

JAGMagazine

Judge Advocate General

Vice Admiral James W. Houck

Deputy Judge Advocate General,

Commander, Naval Legal Service Command

Rear Admiral Nanette M. DeRenzi

Deputy Judge Advocate General, 

Reserveaffairs & Operations

Deputy Commander, Naval Legal service command

Rear Admiral Steven M. Talson

Command Master Chief, 

Officeof The judgeadvocategeneral,

Naval Legal Service Command

Master Chief Christopher J. Browning

Reserve Command Master Chief,

Officeof The judgeadvocategeneral,

Naval Legal Service Command

Master Chief Jeffrey N. LÜthi

Public Affairs

Ms. Jen Zeldis

Ms. Natalie Morehouse

Editorial Board

LCDR Janelle Beal 

LCDR Sally Hughes 

LCDR Anne Marks

LCDR Sergio Sarkany

 LT Lisa Senay

Region Liaisons

Naval Justice School

LT Sara de Groot

Naval Legal Service Office Central

LT Guy Reschenthaler

Naval Legal Service Office Europe, Africa & Southwest Asia

LT David Warning

 Naval Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic

LT Matthew Rector & LT Adrienne Sadosky

Naval Legal Service Office North Central

LT David Dziengowski 

Naval Legal Service Office Northwest

LT Adrianne Mittelstaedt

Naval Legal Service Office Pacific

CDR David Norkin

Naval Legal Service Office Southeast

CDR Art Record

Naval Legal Service Office Southwest

LT Andrew Hofland

Region Legal Service Office Europe, Africa & Southwest Asia

LT Steven Gonzales 

Region Legal Service Office Hawaii

LN1 James Hills

Region Legal Service Office Japan

CDR Glenn Hancock

Region Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic

LT Taryn Meeks

Region Legal Service Office Midwest

LTJG Lisa Redmond

Region Legal Service Office Naval District Washington

LT Jaspreet Saini

Region Legal Service Office Northwest

LT Paul Morris

Region Legal Service Office Southeast

LN2 Claudia Loza

Region Legal Service Office Southwest

LTJG Barbara Colberg & LTJG Jason Masterson

Judge Advocate General

This edition of the magazine gave me pause to take a look at where we have been and 

where we are going. Looking back five years, the JAG Corps published JAG Corps 

2020 to chart our strategic vision and course for the future of the community and our practice. To reflect where the JAG Corps is now and what we have learned from our experiences in strategic planning, we refreshed our strategic plan with the publication of JAG 

Corps 2020.1. Read about the updates we made to our strategic plan as well as what has 

remained constant on page 15. Through JAG Corps 2020.1, our Corps will ensure now, 

and in the future, we are prepared to meet our mission’s challenges. 

Looking back to earlier this year in our cover story, CDR Jonathan Odom describes 

Operation Tomodachi -- the large-scale disaster relief operation to support Japan following the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident on March 11. He details 

how the JAG Corps community provided legal solutions to the challenging and unique 

issues faced by both the U.S. military and our Japanese allies in the wake of the disaster. 

Additionally, the other stories in this edition, highlight the four critical areas our corps 

must focus on to be successful now and in the future: recruit and retain the right people; 

prepare our people for success; assign the right people to the right positions; and execute 

best practices. From the legalmen who explain the Legalman Paralegal Education Program to OJAG Code 61’s view on personnel matters, the articles in the following pages 

are both interesting and informative.

 More than four years ago, we released the first JAG Magazine to share news about 

our reserve and active officer, enlisted and civilian communities. While the printed JAG 

Magazine has been a great resource, we now believe there are better ways to communicate with you in a more timely and effective way through social and electronic media. 

Concluding with this edition, we will only print JAG Magazine once a year and use other 

online media to tell our story and engage with our audiences. The annual hardcopy JAG 

Magazine will become a showcase of the best photos and stories from the year.

The use of social media by the general public has increased exponentially over the 

past several years. According to a 2009 poll conducted by the Navy Personnel, Research, 

Studies, & Technology, almost 90 percent of Sailors have a personal social networking 

site page. In another study conducted by Forrester Research, 80 percent of U.S. online 

users engage with social media. Concentrating more heavily on this type of communication will allow us to improve the JAG Corps dialogue with members of our Corps, our clients, our alumni, and potential applicants interested in a career in the JAG Corps.

The JAG Corps has established an official presence on three social media sites for you 

to keep up with the latest news:

1. Facebook (www.facebook.com/navyjag) is a social networking site that links 

people as well as organizations through status updates, photos and other posts.

2. Twitter (www.twitter.com/Navy_JAG) is a social networking site that allows us 

to send and read short updates called “tweets.”

3. You Tube (www.youtube.com/NavyJAGCorps) allows us to share our command 

videos with millions of people. 

You may sign up for updates on these sites or visit them on a regular basis to get your 

latest JAG Corps news. If you have any questions or ideas about our social media plan, 

please e-mail our public affairs officer, Jen Zeldis, at jennifer.zeldis@navy.mil.

The content provided by the JAG Magazine, our website, and 

social networking sites are collaborative efforts by all the members of the JAG Corps and greatly depend on your submissions. 

Your sustained input is the key to ensuring that the content we 

provide is timely and useful. Please continue to contribute by forwarding photos and stories.

JAMES W. HOUCK

VADM, JAGC, U.S. Navy
4 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Each time a board considers an enemy combatant’s 

case, it does so de novo, determining his status and whether 

continued detention is necessary to mitigate his threat on 

the battlefield. The process is outlined in DoD policy and 

is guided by Supreme Court precedent and international 

humanitarian law, also known as the Law of Armed Conflict.

Fundamental due process rights are guaranteed before 

the detainee review boards. These rights include the right of 

the detainee to appear before the review boards and confront 

the information against him; the right to speak directly to the 

three neutral field-grade officers charged with adjudicating 

his status; the right to present written information and call 

witnesses before the review boards; and the right to the 

assistance of a U.S. military officer acting as a personal 

representative in the best interest of the detainee. The personal 

representative may also speak on the detainee’s behalf, and 

review and challenge classified information the detainee 

himself is prevented from seeing under national security laws.

Information presented at a detainee review board in 

many ways looks like evidence presented in a traditional 

criminal court or administrative hearing. Forensic labs 

prepare reports admissible before the boards and analyze 

fingerprints, DNA, explosives, and explosive residues. 

On the frontlines of due process in Afghanistan

Several kilometers from Bagram Airfield, arguably the U.S. military’s most 

important base in Afghanistan, stands the detention facility 

in Parwan, a state-of-the-art theater internment facility that 

houses more than 1,000 unlawful enemy combatants.

Within its walls, Navy judge advocates and legalmen 

assigned to the Legal Operations Directorate of Combined Joint 

Interagency Task Force-435 are doing their part to establish 

due process, transparency, and the rule of law in Afghanistan. 

At the forefront of the task force’s legal efforts is 

a small cadre of Navy judge advocates and legalmen 

supporting the work of detainee review boards, which 

convene periodically throughout an enemy combatant’s 

detention -- 60 days after internment and then every six 

months thereafter. As of early 2011, more than 3,000 

review boards had been held at the detention facility.

To date, dozens of Navy judge advocates have 

served before the boards as recorders and legal advisers. 

Legalmen have prepared evidence packets and served as 

reporters, creating accurate transcripts of the hearings. 

By LT Andrew Murray

Camp Sabalu-Harrison, Parwan, Afghanistan

Navy judge advocates and legalmen support Detainee Review Boards

LT Ross Ericson and LT Andrew Murray, both practiced as recorders before the detainee review boards. 
jag.navy.mil 5

We are well on our way to creating a unified and vibrant Total Force, delivering first rate legal service to the Navy. I have been working 

in close coordination with JAG Corps leaders to ensure that our alignment 

and focus remain on point. We have now designated Reserve officers as 

Pillar I (Military Justice), Pillar II (Command Services/Legal Assistance) 

or Pillar III (subject- matter experts) counsel. Pillar III includes admiralty, 

environmental, and international/cyber law experts. To effectively manage 

these practice groups, we have detailed CAPT Tim Sceviour (Military 

Justice), CAPT Joe Velling (Command Services/Legal Assistance), and 

CAPT Michael Shaw (Subject-Matter Experts) as Assistant Force Judge 

Advocates, whose duty it is to provide mentorship and leadership for 

personnel within their respective pillars. 

Our program remains robust. We continue to attract and retain outstanding 

personnel, which I attribute in large part to the successful cooperation 

between the Career Transition Office in Millington and CAPT Janet 

Donovan and her staff in Norfolk. We have seen a record number of JAG 

accessions joining the Reserves upon leaving active duty, and maintaining 

their continuum of service. In addition, we have worked hard to ensure that 

promotion opportunity remains healthy. 

 On the individual augmentee front, the Reserve JAG team continues to 

provide outstanding legal support. On any given day we have Reserve JAG 

Corps officers and legalmen deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, 

Djibouti, and Kuwait. We passed an important milestone this past year with 

over 300 Reserve judge advocates and legalmen deployed since the attacks 

on Sept. 11. 

Last January, we had our Reserve Commanding Officer and Staff Judge 

Advocate Conference in New Orleans, La., where we trained new Reserve 

commanding officers and discussed the way ahead with the Reserve JAG 

leadership. We were joined in New Orleans by RDML Bryan “Clutch” 

Cutchen, deputy chief of Navy Reserve. 

As 2011 progresses, I look forward to working with all of you to create a 

Total Force legal community that is second to none. 

 I can never close without thanking all of 

you, active and Reserve, for the hard work 

and sacrifices that you and your families 

make in order to serve our country. They 

are significant, and deeply appreciated. I 

look forward to seeing you in the fleet and 

throughout our “worldwide law firm.” 

Until then, thank you so very much for 

all that you do to support our nation, our 

Sailors and their families. I couldn’t be 

more proud of you.

Witnesses provide sworn and unsworn 

testimony, or written statements. And, 

the detainee often calls witnesses 

who vouch for his good character, 

offer alibis or promise accountability 

for his conduct in the future. 

The boards also hear information 

unique to an operational environment: 

the specialized world of military 

intelligence. Various forms of 

intelligence are presented before the 

boards in closed secret or top-secret 

sessions with the detainee’s personal 

representative acting on the detainee’s 

behalf to challenge the intelligence. 

Many of those detained and brought 

before detainee review boards are 

responsible for killing U.S. soldiers 

and Marines, or more often, Afghan 

soldiers, police, and innocent civilians. 

While many detainees are in fact 

dangerous, a few are found not to meet 

the legal standard for internment. The 

boards investigate and recommend 

the release of detainees who do not 

meet the criteria for internment, or 

whose threat can be mitigated by 

release, reintegration, or prosecution 

by the Afghan judicial system.

The boards convene in a harsh 

environment. Rocket attacks on 

Bagram Airfield are frequent. Convoys are often ambushed with improvised explosive devices and small 

arms fire. Local courts can be corrupt or unavailable in the vacuum 

left by years of war and Taliban rule. 

Thus, the Afghan judicial system, 

prior to the establishment of Afghanistan’s new national security court 

and provincial justice centers, struggled to enforce the rule of law.

The future of detention operations in Afghanistan is one of transition from the law of armed conflict detention, with the detainee 

review boards process, toward 

Afghan criminal prosecution. 

Until then, the judge advocates 

and legalmen of Combined Joint 

Interagency Task Force-435 will 

continue to stand watch on the frontlines of due process, doing their part 

to establish justice for Afghanistan.

Deputy Judge Advocate General for 

Reserve Affairs and Operations

STEVEN M. TALSON

RADM, JAG Corps, U.S. Navy
6 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

On March 11, Japan suffered a 9.0-magnitude quake, one of the worst in a century. The 

earthquake triggered destructive tsunami waves 

of more than 30 feet that struck the coastal areas 

of Northeast Japan, in some cases traveling up 

to six miles inland. The tsunami damaged the 

Fukushima civilian nuclear power plant, crippling 

its primary and secondary electrical systems, and 

severely damaging its critical cooling capability. 

Within hours, the U.S. military initiated crisis 

response actions in support of the Japanese 

government in an operation the allies called 

“Tomodachi,” the Japanese word for friend. 

 U.S. military units conducted search and rescue 

operations and transported emergency response 

teams, equipment and relief supplies to hundreds 

of thousands of displaced people in affected remote 

Japanese communities, and provided emergent 

medical care to injured people. In the days thereafter, 

other forms of U.S. military support followed to 

assist the Government of Japan and other relief 

agencies with a variety of highly-trained support 

personnel for humanitarian assistance operations.

In an address to the American people soon 

after the disaster struck, President Barack Obama 

described the critical role that U.S. forces should and 

would play in helping Japan in its time of need. 

“The Japanese people are not alone in this time of great 

trial and sorrow,” President Obama said. “Across the 

Navy lawyers support U.S. relief operations in response to 

the earthquake, tsunami in Japan

CDR Jonathan G. Odom

U.S. Pacific Command and Joint Support Force - Japan

Doing our utmost to help a friend in need

An aerial view of damage to Wakuya, Japan after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated the area in northern Japan. Ships and aircraft from 

the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group conducted search and rescue operations and re-supply missions in support of Operation Tomodachi throughout northern 

Japan. 
jag.navy.mil 7

Pacific, they will find a hand of support extended from the 

United States as they get back on their feet. After all, we 

have an alliance that was forged more than a half century ago, 

and strengthened by shared interests and democratic values.”

U.S. military forces, especially those operating in 

the U.S. Pacific Command’s area of responsibility 

are experienced in responding to natural disasters. 

Unprecedented, however, was the magnitude of the 

devastation caused by the disaster in a highly-developed 

nation like Japan, coupled with the associated radiological 

threat from the destabilized nuclear power plant. 

ADM Patrick M. Walsh, the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Joint 

Task Force-519, commander, lead U.S. military response. 

With more than three hundred military officers, enlisted 

members and civilians, ADM Walsh deployed to Japan 

on short notice and augmented the staff of Commander, 

U.S. Forces Japan, at Yokota Air Base to form the Joint 

Support Force. The Joint Support Force with Japanese 

representatives became a perfect complement to 

accomplish this complex, delicate, and urgent mission.

Throughout Operation Tomodachi, U.S. 

forces followed three lines of operation: 

• Foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief 

• Foreign consequence management

• Voluntary departure and planning of the potential 

ordered departure of DoD personnel, their dependents, 

American citizens and designated foreign nationals 

Each of these lines of operation generated its 

own sets of legal challenges and solutions.

Foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief

The body of international and domestic law governing 

how U.S. forces, including the Navy, conduct traditional 

military operations is fairly settled. Military and DoD 

civilian lawyers are relatively well-versed on those areas 

of law, ranging from the law of targeting to the law and 

policies on detention and treatment of enemy combatants. 

When U.S. forces are called upon to provide support in 

humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, as in 

Operation Tomodachi, the applicable law and the legal issues 

arising are often less familiar to military and DoD civilian 

lawyers. Making matters even more challenging is the 

legal authorities for some facets of humanitarian assistance 

missions are less codified. The result is lawyers supporting 

foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief often 

maneuver in a gray zone, interpreting broad-based, undefined 

terms in statutes -- like “other humanitarian purposes” -- 

and relying on precedents of what U.S. forces did in other 

disaster relief operations, such as those conducted after the 

2004 tsunami in Indonesia and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. 

Once Operation Tomodachi began, the Japanese 

government submitted some specific requests for assistance 

to the U.S. Government via the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. 

Agency for International Development/U.S. Office of Foreign 

Disaster Assistance field officer. In other cases, due to the 

long-standing military-to-military relationship between Japan 

and the U.S., an alternative process for submitting requests 

for assistance was also established between the Japanese Joint 

Staff and U.S. Forces Japan (and later Joint Support Force). 

 The request for assistance process was the heart of the 

Joint Support Force operational planning effort to support 

Japanese relief in Operation Tomodachi. The “operational 

law” of this operation was fiscal law and contract law. 

The primary funding mechanism for disaster relief 

is a special category of appropriated funds for foreign 

humanitarian assistance and disaster relief known as 

overseas humanitarian, disaster assistance and civic aid 

funds. A significant amount of the legal workload for U.S. 

Pacific Command and Joint Support Force staff judge 

advocate offices in Operation Tomodachi was devoted 

to analyzing whether fiscal law and regulations would 

allow overseas humanitarian, disaster assistance and civic 

aid funds to be spent for particular request for assistance. 

Many of the requests for assistance were validated and U.S. 

forces were tasked to assist the Japanese government. 

If the prerequisites for overseas humanitarian, disaster assistance and civic aid funding were not satisfied for a 

particular request for assistance from the Japanese government, the staff judge advocate representatives supported the 

board in identifying other lawful ways to fund relief activities, such as, service-funded community relations programs.

Foreign consequence management

The disaster Japan experienced was historically destructive even if it consisted only of the earthquake and the resulting tsunamis. However, the danger for the Japanese people 

and others who reside in Japan, including American service 

members and civilians assigned to Japan, was magnified by 

the resulting damage to one of the civilian nuclear power 

plants located in Fukushima, 135 miles north of Tokyo. 

As ADM Robert Willard, the Pacific Command 

commander, said to Congress following the disaster, “The 

significance of the continuing nuclear crisis adds a level of 

disaster response complexity and urgency that’s without peer.”

The word “complexity” captures the U.S. military’s 

response options for supporting the Japanese in properly 

handling the risk posed by the damaged nuclear plant. It 

also describes many of the legal issues that arose in Operation Tomodachi’s line of operations known as foreign consequence management, defined by DoD as “assistance provided by the U.S. Government to a host nation to mitigate 

the effects of a deliberate or inadvertent chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive attack 

or event to restore essential operations and services.” 

While foreign disaster relief is not a core area of practice for 

Navy judge advocates, the laws and regulations applicable to 

foreign consequence management are even more specialized. 

Fortunately, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency published a 

comprehensive foreign consequence management legal deskbook in 2007 that identifies and analyzes many of the legal 

Tomodachi continued on page 8
8 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

technical, and legal experts worked 

to refine a vetting process.

Early on, nuclear experts, medical 

experts, and judge advocates on the 

U.S. Pacific Command and Joint 

Support Force staffs were also tasked 

to identify the appropriate health 

standards for exposure to radiation. 

The legal advisors sought to gather 

together all preexisting radiation health 

standards in U.S. federal and military 

regulations. It quickly became evident 

that federal agencies and the military 

had established a significant number 

of different radiological exposure 

standards, each standard tailored to 

address a particular risk unique to a 

foreseen environment. For example, 

the Navy’s standards for radiation 

exposure have been tailored to protect 

Navy personnel who were projected to 

consistently work near nuclear reactors 

aboard ships and submarines over a 

twenty-year career. The risk arising 

from an accumulation of twenty years of 

persistent exposure for a Navy reactors 

officer did not equate to the risk for an 

issues associated with this mission set. 

This deskbook proved to be a valuable 

asset to the military lawyers involved. 

Additionally, early in the establishment 

of the Joint Support Force, the Joint 

Support Force leadership identified a 

reserve Navy judge advocate assigned 

to U.S. Northern Command’s Joint 

Task Force-Civil Support to augment 

the Joint Support Force legal office.

As the response effort matured, 

it quickly became evident -- to both 

military operators and legal advisor 

alike -- that success required effective 

coordination with and contributions 

from other U.S. federal departments and 

agencies with expertise in nuclear and 

radiological issues. Representatives 

from Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 

the Department of Energy, and the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission were 

either embedded in the Radiological 

Consequence Management Team on 

the Joint Support Force staff or on call 

for support at the U.S. Embassy in 

Tokyo. Together, these operational, 

LT Josh Fryday, LCDR Sarah Stancati, LT John Battisti, CDR Christopher French, LTJG Hannah Foster, LN2 Kerri Johns and LN1 Ronald Alexander served as legal 

officers and aides aboard the U.S. 7th Fleet command flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) in support of Operation Tomodachi. 

Air Force maintenance service member 

assisting in the removal of radiological 

contamination found on an aircraft 

returning from sorties in support of the 

relief effort. Ultimately, the experts from 

the U.S. Pacific Command and Joint 

Support Force staffs developed and 

promulgated standards that were tailored 

to the actual risks in the operation and 

based upon rational justification and 

analogous pre-existing standards. 

The legal team was also called upon 

to help develop standards for all U.S. 

forces to follow in decontamination 

of ships, aircraft, vehicles, and other 

equipment utilized to provide assistance 

in the operation. While the force 

health protection standards involved a 

synthesis of preexisting U.S. regulations 

and policies, the decontamination 

standards included the added challenge 

of identifying and comparing relevant 

Japanese regulatory standards since 

these U.S. military platforms were 

operating within the sovereign territory 

of another nation. Fortunately, this 

effort was greatly assisted by the 

Tomodachi continued from page 7
jag.navy.mil 9

resident expertise among U.S. Forces 

Japan lawyers already familiar with 

applicable Japanese environmental 

laws and regulations. Together, they 

were able to develop decontamination 

standards that complied with both 

U.S. and Japanese law, and ensured 

that redeploying platforms could enter 

other nations in the future with selfcertification that they were safe and 

met general international standards.

Voluntary Authorized Departure

The U.S. military forces’ third line 

of operation in the earthquake/tsunami/

nuclear power plant disaster aftermath 

was taking care of service members 

families and fellow U.S. citizens. On 

March 17, the Office of the Secretary 

of Defense authorized the departure of 

eligible family members of U.S. military 

and civilian employees assigned to 

locations on Honshu, the largest island 

of Japan, including those stationed 

at the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Activities 

Yokosuka and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, 

the U.S. Air Force’s Yokota Air Base 

and Misawa Air Base, and the U.S. 

Army’s Camp Zama. These authorized 

eligible family members were entitled 

to funded travel out of Japan to the 

designated safe haven of the United 

States. In light of the scope of the 

authorization, ensuring an expeditious 

and orderly departure for this large 

number of DoD family members proved 

to be a significant undertaking, called 

Operation Pacific Passage. ADM 

Willard designated the Commanding 

General, III Marine Expeditionary 

Force, headquartered in Okinawa, as 

Commander, Joint Task Force-505, 

and assigned him the responsibility of 

directing the voluntary departure effort 

and planning for a potential ordered 

departure of U.S. personnel if the 

radiological threat to U.S. installations 

became grave. Given the dispersal 

and service-centric nature of the U.S. 

military communities on Honshu, it 

quickly became evident that Joint Task 

Force-505’s assigned task required the 

contribution of installation commands, 

including the support of their respective 

staff judge advocate and legal offices. 

The members of Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office Japan are accustomed to working on highly sensitive and mission critical projects in 

the Far East. They never expected—nor could they expect—to find themselves 

in the middle of one of Japan’s worst natural and human disasters. Yet, that is 

what happened to the members of Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office 

Japan. 

CAPT Bradley Cordts, commanding officer of Reserve Region Legal 

Service Office Japan arrived in Japan on March 7 and expected a busy, 

but relatively uneventful, three weeks of duty as the force judge advocate. 

His senior legalman, LNC Eric Kemp, had arrived a few months earlier on 

extended active duty orders. He too expected a busy, but relatively quiet time 

supporting Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka. All of that changed when 

the earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan’s eastern seaboard.

CAPT Cordts immediately understood the enormity of the event and the 

need for significant Reserve support. 

“I had been in Japan during other high profile events that required significant 

JAG Corps resources, but I knew that the size and scope of this tragedy 

required an effort a 1,000 times greater than anything I had seen in the past,” 

recalls CAPT Cordts. “We needed all-hands on deck—Reserve and active 

duty—to assist in our humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.” 

Under the leadership of CAPT Tompkins, active duty commanding officer 

of Region Legal Service Office Japan, the Region Legal Service Office Japan 

active and Reserve team started to identify a game plan for the emerging legal 

issues and how to get the best resources to accomplish the mission. Many of 

those best assets were members of the Reserve Region Legal Service Office 

Japan. For example, LCDR Sean Cogley arrived in Japan within days of 

the earthquake. He served as the staff judge advocate for Commander Fleet 

Activities Sasebo, which became a hub of activity once the nuclear disaster 

forced ships in the Yokosuka area to temporarily re-deploy.

Other Reserve members soon followed including CAPT Bob Elwell and 

CDR Craig Haughtelin. They provided critical support in the legal service 

center, which operated 24 hours a day for several weeks after the disaster. 

In addition, CDR Paul “Garrett” Triplett was hand-selected to provide 29 

days of active duty service and to lead a joint legal team supporting Joint 

Task Force 505 and III Marine Expeditionary Force, which was tasked with 

planning voluntary early departure of dependents and potential non-combatant 

evacuation operations.

There should be no doubt about the critical role played by Reserve Region 

Legal Service Office Japan in the JAG Corps’ mission in Japan. 

 As CAPT Tompkins emphasized, “our Reservists in general do a tremendous 

job of providing critical support to our mission. However, we were very, very 

lucky that CAPT Cordts was in Japan when the disaster occurred and even 

luckier that so many of his unit members answered our immediate call for 

help.” 

Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office Japan clearly epitomized the 

Navy Reserve motto: Ready now. Anytime, anywhere.

Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office Japan

Ready Now. Anytime, Anywhere.

Tomodachi continued on page 10
10 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

 As the frontline attorneys for 

direct support to Navy and civilian 

personnel in Japan, the Region Legal 

Service Office Japan and Naval Legal 

Service Office Pacific in Yokosuka 

were thoroughly involved in assisting 

departing eligible family members. 

Military and civilian lawyers engaged 

representatives from other U.S. 

departments and agencies, including 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

and the DoD Education Activity, to 

help ensure a smooth transition in a 

stressful time for departing family 

members. One key component to 

mitigating the stress of the departure 

was ensuring the flow of accurate 

information, including details about 

travel and lodging entitlements, 

and alternative safe havens. Navy 

judge advocates were integrally 

involved in developing and regularly 

updating frequently asked questions, 

also known as FAQs, posted on 

installation Web sites to help inform 

the families departing or considering 

departure. The development of 

these FAQs exemplified the overall 

posture of Navy judge advocates 

involved in Operations Tomodachi

and Pacific Passage: naval officers 

stepping forward and contributing 

in whatever ways they could in 

order to accomplish the assigned 

mission, even if the issue or challenge 

was not purely legal in nature. 

The earthquake, tsunami, and 

resulting radiological threat created 

an almost incomprehensible time of 

difficulty for Japan. In fact, some 

observers in Japan have referred 

to their nation facing a “New 

Normal” in the “post-March 11 

era,” reminding us of the collective 

shock to our national psyche after 

the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

Yet in this difficult time for 

Japan, it is clear that Operation 

Tomodachi is aptly named. By 

words and by deeds, the U.S. 

military has demonstrated to the 

nation of Japan that they have, 

and will continue to have, a sure 

friend in such times of need.

By no means was the legal workload of Operations Tomodachi and Pacific Passage carried by Navy judge advocates alone; this was truly a joint legal 

effort by dozens of civilian counsel and military judge advocates of all services. 

“Real world missions, especially humanitarian assistance and disaster relief 

operations, demanded immediate legal support. It’s critically important for there 

to be the right mix of lawyers available at all levels of command and manning 

operational watch floors at the onset of crisis. Decisions made in the first 24 to 

48 hours will either set you up for success, or have you playing catch up for the 

duration of the operation,” said CDR Chris French, 7th Fleet staff judge advocate.

At Pacific Command Headquarters, CAPT John Hannink advised on the 

theater-strategic level issues affecting the operation, while Pacific Command 

CDR Jonathan Odom and LCDR Mike Adams supported operational planning 

teams. 

Less than 24 hours after the earthquake, a 24/7 staff judge advocate watch 

was established on the Pacific Command Joint Operations Center watchfloor, 

augmented by LT Chris Toscano from Joint Interagency Task Force-West. 

The Pacific Command legal team analyzed legal issues, often elevating those 

with policy implications in the theater of operations to Washington for resolution. 

When ADM Walsh deployed to Japan to serve as the Joint Support Force 

commander, he was accompanied by CAPT Stu Belt as his staff judge advocate 

and CDR Odom, as his chief of operational law. The Joint Support Force staff 

judge advocate office also included CAPT Mike Shaw, a reservist with expertise 

on foreign consequence management, from Joint Task Force-Civil Support in 

Norfolk, and LT Alex Sevald from Combined Task Force-70 who manned the 

Bilateral Joint Operations Coordination Center with U.S. and Japanese military 

representatives at the Joint Support Force and U.S. Forces Japan headquarters in 

Yokota. 

Navy legal support to Operation Tomodachi was not limited to the four-star 

staff level of Pacific Command, Pacific Fleet, and the Joint Support Force. Just as 

the newly-established Joint Support Force staff merged operational law expertise 

with familiarization of the host nation’s legal regimes, so too was there synergy 

between Navy lawyers from inside and outside Japan. 

Staff judge advocate CDR French and his deputy, LCDR Sarah Stancati 

advised VADM Scott R. Van Buskirk, commander U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, and his 

operational staff. Two days after the earthquake and tsunami, CDR French asked 

for help to man the 24/7 watch at 7th Fleet. With less than three-hours notice, 

LT Josh Fryday and LTJG Hannah Foster headed to the airport, seabags packed, 

to augment the staff. LT Byron Nakamura, reported to Combined Task Force76 to assist LCDR Tahmika Jackson, the lone lawyer providing advice to the 

amphibious fleet supporting the humanitarian relief mission. LT Drew Coffin, 

was immediately in the forefront of providing advice to his amphibious ready 

group commander. 

Meanwhile, ashore Navy lawyers at Region Legal Service Office Japan and 

Naval Legal Service Office Pacific, assisted in the host of challenging legal 

issues associated with the voluntary authorized departure of Navy dependents 

form Japan to the U.S. 

 “Normally we are defense and legal assistance attorneys so we had to become 

acquainted with operational international law very quickly and dive right in,” 

said LT Fryday. “It’s an honor to be part of an operation like this, to see how 

the Navy can really make a difference, especially to those in need. Having an 

opportunity to work on a mission like this is why I joined the JAG Corps.” 

Navy lawyers make a difference

Tomodachi continued from page 9
jag.navy.mil 11

to educate legalmen as paralegals, 

allowing them to take on additional 

duties currently being performed by 

attorneys. This will be accomplished 

by requiring all legalmen to 

obtain an associate’s degree from 

an ABA accredited college. 

For weeks, my fellow legalmen and 

I went to night classes, completing five 

courses. The classes we took included 

criminal law, business organization 

for paralegals, litigation, contracts 

and domestic relations. Though we 

had a great deal of homework, we 

had four hours of study time at the 

Naval Justice School, which helped 

out a lot. There were many naval 

attorneys, who provided us with any 

kind of assistance we needed, even 

if it was just to listen and reassure 

us we were on the right track. That 

was one of the best parts of LPEP, 

having legal professionals available 

when there was something in the 

material we did not understand. The 

fleet returnees offered additional 

assistance. The fleet returnees were 

legalmen who, like the instructors, had 

been in the fleet doing the job prior 

to returning to Naval Justice School 

to go through LPEP. They were able 

to tell us what to expect in our first 

command as well as provide a little 

more insight on topics we may not 

have understood during school. 

During LPEP, we did not have 

class on Fridays. This break afforded 

us the opportunity to practice factual 

situations, which were scenarios of 

misconduct by military members 

sent to non-judicial punishment or 

courts-martial. We were required to 

do all the paperwork for the factual 

situations, while the fleet returnees 

checked our work. The fleet returnees 

Legalman Paralegal Education Program

By LN2 Dexter Robison, Jr.

Region Legal Service Office EURAFSWA

corrected our mistakes as well as 

taught us why such mistakes were 

wrong. They had a big impact on 

my view of legalmen and I chose 

LNC Eric Smart to be my mentor. 

I have been assigned to Region 

Legal Service Office in Sigonella, 

Italy. There, I will be assisting the 

judge advocates with non-judicial 

punishment and trial preparation. 

LPEP helped prepare me for this 

work by allowing me the opportunity 

to apply my knowledge as well as 

teaching me the material. It also 

provided me with essential tools that 

I can employ when and if my work 

crosses over into civilian jurisdiction. 

Furthermore, LPEP gave me an idea 

of what paralegals in the civilian 

courts deal with on a daily basis. 

One more huge benefit, is the 

extension of LPEP into the civilian 

world. Once legalmen separate 

from the military, they will do so 

with not only job experience but the 

academic degree to support their 

knowledge and skills. Indeed, LPEP 

is a unique program necessary for 

our rating. Coupled with the Naval 

Justice School, it is undoubtedly 

integral to the proper and thorough 

preparation of future legalmen. 

Inspired by my initial success at 

the university, I plan to continue the 

program at Roger Williams University 

and get my bachelor’s degree in 

Paralegal Studies. When I achieve my 

bachelor’s, I would like to continue 

on to get a master’s degree by the 

end of my enlistment. I recognize 

my time in LPEP as an invaluable 

experience, one that I firmly believe 

will help me to advance in the 

legalman community as I continue 

to proudly serve the U.S. Navy.

Before converting to my current 

rate of legalman I was an aviation 

electronics technician. The duties 

of an aviation electronics technician 

include repairing and maintaining 

the electronic components of aircraft, 

such as radios, GPS, and weapon 

guidance systems. I have worked 

on two different platforms during 

my career as an aviation electronics 

technician. I was at Strike Fighter 

Squadron-131 working on F/A 18 

Hornets before transferring to Carrier 

Airborne Early Warning Squadron 

(VAW-120), where I worked on the 

E2C Hawkeye and C2A Greyhound. 

Although I enjoyed my time as 

an aviation electronics technician, 

my time as a legalman has been 

unique and challenging, and 

overall exciting. I was among the 

first students to graduate from the 

Legalman Paralegal Education 

Program (LPEP). LPEP is designed 

LN2 Dexter Robison, Jr. at his desk at the Region 

Legal Service Office EURAFSWA

“The Legalman Paralegal Education Program is a unique 

program necessary for our rating. Coupled with the Naval 

Justice School, it is undoubtedly integral to the proper 

and thorough preparation of future legalmen.”
12 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Reinforcing a commitment to reduce corruption 

and spur economic development, U.S. Central Command 

Commander GEN David Petraeus issued guidelines last 

fall to enhance oversight of contracting efforts in support 

of counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan. 

This oversight is being performed by the Joint Contracting Command, Iraq-Afghanistan with the able assistance of LN1 Michael Rusinas, a navy reservist, currently filling an individual augmentee billet.

“We are a basically a joint task force composed of 

Army, Navy, Air Force and DoD civilians,” LN1 Rusinas explained. “We support the senior contracting official in Afghanistan and oversee 13 regional contracting centers spread throughout the country.”

The work this office performs cannot be overestimated. 

In fiscal year 2009, NATO and the U.S. provided some 

$14 billion worth of goods and services. The Joint Contracting Command's task is to establish effective procurement procedures to build and sustain a self-sufficient economy. Much of this work involves legal reviews of contracts to ensure compliance with U.S. and Afghan laws. 

“The work is challenging as we face new and difficult 

questions in an ever-changing environment. Even the federal acquisition regulations do not always address every contingency encountered here” said LN1 Rusinas. “This requires 

our attorneys to be hyper-vigilant in their contract reviews.”

GEN Petraeus’ guidance states that contracts should go 

first to Afghan firms or, if no local option exists, the company 

that is awarded a contract will be encouraged to hire native 

workers and subcontractors. These contracts not only produce Afghan products, but also generate employment and 

stimulate economic growth. The command has the authority to direct these acquisitions and measure their success.

“The money spent has accomplished great things, such 

as improving roads, power sources, commercial infrastructure, medical services and security efforts,” LN1 Rusinas 

observed. “Using counterinsurgency contracting concepts, 

we are helping Afghanistan build a durable economy.”

The revised counterinsurgency contracting guidance 

notes that “money is ammunition” and that close attention should be given to the impact of spending and who 

benefits from it. GEN Petraeus’ “Afghan First” policy 

is reaping huge benefits and the Kabul Milli Boot Company is a prime example according to LN1 Rusinas.

“I recently toured the Milli Boot Factory and saw staff 

diligently cutting, sewing and shaping raw material into 

By LNC Harrold Henck

OJAG Reserve Public Affairs

A legalman’s perspective of

counterinsurgency contracting

combat boots that will supply local forces. The employees are clearly proud of their efforts and eager to produce.” 

The scale of contracting in Afghanistan represents both 

an opportunity and a danger. Private contractors provide a range of services including transportation, security and operating dining facilities at military bases. The 

challenge is to exercise proper guidance, avoid avarice, and win the loyalty of the Afghan people. 

Accomplishing this sometimes means getting out 

of Kabul to assist judge advocates and meeting with 

intended recipients at the various regional contracting centers. In an underdeveloped land as Afghanistan, this can 

be a cumbersome venture as LN1 Rusinas explained. 

“Last fall, I served on a surplus acquisition venture team at Camp Leatherneck in the southern province of Helmand. Getting there meant a two-and-a-half 

day trip, and immediately upon arrival, we were bombarded with hundreds of questions on contract law. The 

end result was meaningful nonetheless because we were 

bringing a sense of order to these remote locations.”

Providing security to the Afghan people is still the 

core mission of coalition forces. Counterinsurgency contracting, however, is clearly enhancing that mission by 

investing in the economy, developing the rule of law, 

and deterring Taliban influence among the populace. 

“Essentially, we are trying to win this war by creating a viable economy, one that creates jobs so people can 

feed their families and not turn to violence,” LN1 Rusinas stated. “If the success of Milli boot factory is any indication, I believe the country will soon develop a strong 

economy and our mission here will be a success.”

LN1 Michael Rusinas assists an Afghan worker during a tour of the Milli Boot 

Factory in Kabul. The factory is one of many “Afghan First” initiatives of 

CENTCOM’s contracting efforts designed to spur local economic development 

and deter insurgent support.
jag.navy.mil 13

that qualified officers are consistently assigned to these billets 

allowed the JAG Corps to send 25 students to postgraduate 

school this year. Code 61 was the lead for increasing 

opportunities for judge advocates to attend Master of Laws 

programs at Harvard, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, 

and the University of California, Berkley, among others. 

Judge advocates will not escape all impact from Navy 

reduction initiatives, however, we have fared better than many 

communities as a result of JAG Corps leadership being in 

the ring fighting for every billet, every postgraduate school 

quota, and every dollar of Judge Advocate Continuation Pay.

Of course, Code 61 does also oversee JAG Corps recruiting. 

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of officers throughout Naval 

Legal Service Command, applications to the JAG Corps 

continue to increase. Code 61 helps develop the policies and 

programs that impact recruiting, such as structured interviews, 

on-line application system, Internship Program, accessions 

selection board precepts, and diversity outreach. In fact, the 

JAG Corps is one of the few Navy communities that is almost 

exclusively responsible for its own recruiting, and is entrusted 

by Commander, Navy Recruiting Command with over 

$60,000 in sponsorship commitments for diversity recruiting.

Code 61 also contributes to the execution of several 

important JAG Corps quality of life programs. We routinely 

request nominations for a host of quarterly and annual awards 

to recognize outstanding members of 

the JAG Corps. The recently approved 

JAG Corps telework policy was drafted 

by Code 61, and we are working 

closely with Task Force Life Work to 

implement other important programs.

Assignment to Code 61 can be 

an important broadening tour for an 

officer. Certainly, it provides a broad 

picture of almost every facet of the 

JAG Corps structure. Service in Code 

61 also provides young officers with 

opportunities to interact directly with 

senior JAG Corps leaders on a host 

of issues. The perspective gained 

working in Code 61 can be invaluable 

in future leadership assignments. 

Finally, though, Code 61 provides 

an opportunity to work with the very 

best and most motivated members 

of our community who are helping 

to recruit, assign, and retain the next 

generation of judge advocates.

When I found out I would be taking over Military Personnel - Code 61, I asked 

my colleague, “Don’t they do recruiting?” I had to 

confirm that the office was in D.C. and not Millington. 

Since then, I’ve come to appreciate that the work of 

Code 61 impacts the careers of every judge advocate. 

Code 61 started out as the JAG Corps detailing and 

community management shop. When the officer detailers 

and the officer community manager migrated to Navy 

Personnel Command, Code 61 retained the role of developing 

the JAG Corps officer manpower policies and strategy. 

In fact, the assistant officer community manager works 

in Code 61, and the manpower triad – detailers, officer 

community manager, and Code 61 – interface daily on 

issues that touch the entire JAG Corps officer community. 

Whether developing strategies to advocate for increased 

manning, supporting Congressional testimony of Navy leaders, 

or programming the billets necessary for a command or staff 

judge advocate to accomplish the mission, Code 61 is involved. 

This past year has been particularly dynamic as the Navy 

plans for anticipated budget reductions over the next several 

years. Thanks in large part to the work of a junior officer in 

Code 61 and the officer community 

manager, the JAG Corps was able to 

successfully defend Judge Advocate 

Continuation Pay this year despite an 

overall reduction in Navy special and 

incentive pays. We were able to limit 

the impact of Navy-wide “roll downs” 

in the number of O4/O5/O6 billets 

by aggressive engagement with Navy 

Personnel Command through the officer 

community manager, deputy judge 

advocate general, and judge advocate 

general. As a result, the JAG Corps 

has been more successful than most 

communities in mitigating the impact 

of Navy-wide manpower reductions 

on our promotion opportunity and 

authorized end strength. We have also 

defended our postgraduate education 

opportunity through a detailed validation 

of every JAG Corps billet that requires 

subspecialty expertise. The superb 

ability of JAG Corps detailers to ensure 

Military Personnel - Code 61

By CAPT Scott Thompson

Military Personnel - Code 61 

What's in an OJAG code?

Accessions for Navy judge advocates

55 Student Program 4 Direct Appointment Program

4 Law Education Program

 Student Loan Debt For

Navy judge advocates

$115,000 is the average school 

debt for our junior officers

82% of new accessions to the Navy JAG Corps possess student loan debt 

Rank distribution of Navy

judge advocates

3 73 138 190 

374 57

Deployments in direct support

of Operational Forces

13 Iraq

51 Afghanistan

5Guantanamo Bay

4 Djibouti

44 Other locations

Navy JAG Corps active duty data provided by the 2011 Navy JAG Corps Annual Report for the 

American Bar Association.

Military Personnel

by theNumbers
14 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

2011 Postgraduate school profiles

LT Jon McKay

George Washington University Law School 

Environmental Law

I chose to study environmental law because it 

is pervasive and growing, and it impacts almost 

every aspect of the Navy’s operations. As a regulated agency, anything the Navy builds, floats or 

flies must comply with federal and state environmental laws. Therefore, environmental law is a 

means for me to see and touch almost anything the 

Navy does, but to do so through a focused legal prism. What I 

like about this area of the law, is how expansive it has become. 

It requires knowledge of litigation and administrative law; it has 

operational aspects; and it is no doubt evolving.

LCDR Matthew Kurek

Lewis and Clark Law School 

Environmental and Natural Resources Law

As an operational law attorney and a carrier judge advocate, I became absolutely intrigued with the balance and interplay between military tasking and environmental concerns. This 

was the catalyst to my decision to specialize in Environmental 

and Natural Resources Law. As 

an environmental attorney, I hope 

to assist operational commanders 

understand environmental laws and 

regulations and provide legal guidance during operational planning. 

LCDR William Weiland 

Temple University - Beasely School of Law

Trial Advocacy

Successful trial advocates recognize that the profession demands a life of long study, self-critique, and practice. 

Advanced litigation techniques can be learned in the class room, 

and practiced in a mock setting. And that is why I chose to study 

Trial Advocacy at Temple University Beasely School of Law. 

The classes meet at nights and on the weekends, which allowed 

me to secure a position as a special assistant U.S. Attorney in the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvania. By serving as 

a full time federal prosecutor, I have been lucky 

enough to put the advanced techniques I have 

learned to the test. Quite honestly, the combination of education and experience simply cannot 

be beat.

CDR Joseph Hoelz 

Columbia Law School

International Law

During my two staff judge advocate tours, I gained some 

experience in Environmental and International Law. I really 

enjoyed both areas of practice and knew intensive 

study in either would prepare me for future assignments. My professors are exceptional, but I have been 

even more impressed by my classmates. In addition 

to many of them being brilliant, they have been very 

open minded and are truly interested in a dialogue on 

the balance between national security and individual liberties. 

CDR Thomas Leary

Georgetown University Law Center

National Security Law

I selected the National Security Law for several 

reasons. First, with the nation at war with a nontraditional enemy, which operates across national 

boundaries - this area of law is of acute importance. Second, I’ve been fortunate to have served 

overseas with our nation’s fighting forces, and 

have been witness to some of the national security 

decision-making processes. As a result, I wanted 

to be certain to understand as completely as possible the legal 

considerations that influence those decisions. And finally, as a 

formal field of study, National Security Law is a relative newcomer to the legal profession, so pursuing this degree opens up 

numerous interesting and potentially novel professional opportunities for me as I continue my career. 

CDR Scott Suozzi

University of Pennsylvania Law School

International Law

Studying international law not only allows a judge 

advocate to gain a perspective on how the rest of the 

world relates to the rule of law, but it prepares you 

to perform in a myriad of Navy and joint billets all 

over the globe. Furthermore, by studying at a civilian institution you are exposed to a wide spectrum of 

views and build an instant network of attorney classmates from 

many U.S. states, countries, cultures, and regions.

LCDR Sylvaine Wong

Harvard Law School 

International Law

I became interested in the Law of Armed Conflict during 

my first-tour deployment to the Arabian Gulf, where I worked 

side-by-side with military lawyers from our NATO partners. 

The tangible operational impact at a tactical level, caused by 

differences in national interpretation of laws, was 

eye-opening. Everything I am studying has direct 

relevance to the issues we faced in Afghanistan, 

and will continue to face in future international 

armed conflicts. 
JAG Corps 2020.1

jag.navy.mil 15

JAG Corps releases updated strategy

The JAG Corps published JAG Corps 2020 five years ago to 

chart our course for the future of our 

practice. Today, we are updating our 

strategic plan with JAG Corps 2020.1 

to reflect what we have learned from 

our experiences over the past five 

years and where we need to go.

As our Navy continues to be called 

upon to meet varied and complex challenges, the JAG Corps will remain an 

integral part of its mission. To meet 

the legal needs of our commanders and their forces, the JAG Corps 

must adapt to the future. JAG Corps 

2020.1 sets out our mission and longrange strategic vision for the Navy 

JAG Corps. We defined our three primary practice areas: military justice; 

operational law/command advice; 

and support to Sailors and their families. To succeed in these practice 

areas, we must recruit and retain the 

right people, prepare our people for 

success, assign the right people to 

the right positions, and execute best 

practices.

Our mission has been, and will 

remain, to provide superb legal solutions to our clients, wherever and 

whenever required. Through the 

vision detailed in JAG Corps 2020.1, 

we will accomplish our current mission and invest in building the future 

JAG Corps. JAG Corps 2020.1 is 

now online at www.jag.navy.mil.

Please read the plan closely and discuss it with your leadership, peers and 

subordinates.

Each of you is critical to the 

overall success of our efforts to 

remain aligned with the priorities 

of the larger Navy and joint force. 

We ask you to continue to look for 

opportunities to help execute the 

plan, to recommend improvements, 

and to add new ideas of your own. As 

in the past, the JAG will issue annual 

guidance to direct implementation 

of JAG Corps 2020.1. With your 

support, enthusiasm and desire to 

serve, we will continue to excel now, 

through the year 2020, and beyond. 

Thank you for all you do.
Fleet News

16 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Region Legal Service Office Midwest and Naval Legal Service 

Office North Central hosted a group 

of students and staff from John Marshall University Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic in 

the courtroom onboard Naval Station 

Great Lakes. The Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic assists veterans 

on a pro bono basis by investigating and 

researching their veteran benefit claims 

and facilitating their access to veteran 

resources. The Veterans Legal Support 

Center and Clinic also refers veterans 

to pro bono private legal counsel, who 

assist them with their claims. 

CAPT Mark Hunzeker, commanding officer, Region Legal Service Office 

LT Elizabeth O’Connor, attached 

to Region Legal Service Office 

Mid-Atlantic, currently serves as the 

command services attorney for Joint 

Expeditionary Base Little CreekFort Story and Naval Weapons 

Station Yorktown. Her days are 

typically full of random installation 

questions such as, “can this nonfederal entity come onboard to hold 

a fundraiser run?” For one month, 

though, she spent her time on the 

basketball court at 32nd Street Field 

House in San Diego representing the 

JAG Corps on the All-Navy Women’s Basketball Team. 

LT O’Connor, a standout college 

basketball player at the College 

of the Holy Cross, submitted an 

application to the All-Navy Sports 

Program in early February. She was 

one of 22 members selected from all 

over the world to participate in the ten day try-out. She 

made the “cut” and continued to prepare for the All-Armed 

Forces Tournament held at Camp Pendleton in April. 

“It was an awesome experience,” said LT O’Connor. 

“I really enjoyed the camaraderie on the team.” Players 

Midwest, talked about the structure 

and clientele of the JAG Corps and 

various practice areas covered by the 

JAG Corps. Reservist, LCDR Linda 

Manlove-Braxton, currently with 

the Captain James A. Lovell Federal 

Health Care Center in Chicago, provided a presentation on the Informal 

Physical Evaluation Board process 

and shared her experiences representing active duty and reserve service 

Judge advocate plays for all-Navy women's basketball team

ranged from E-2 to O-3, with LT 

O’Connor being the most senior 

rankin player. “I am grateful to my 

command and especially LT Kevin 

Walker for filling in for me so that 

I could have this opportunity,” said 

LT O’Connor. 

The team practiced for three sessions each day, some days spanning 

from 0730 to 2030. 

Although the team played well 

the first three games of the tournament, and was seeded first going in 

to the double elimination portion, 

the team ended up losing its final two 

games. LT O’Connor started as the 

power forward for the team. Despite 

having played shooting guard in college, LT O’Connor averaged double 

figures in both points and rebounds 

throughout the tournament at the 

new position. 

“Not many people realize that 

these opportunities exist for us. 

Many of my law school friends, not to mention fellow 

judge advocates, were in awe when I told them what I was 

doing; but it is these opportunities that make the Navy – 

and the JAG Corps – such a unique experience,” noted LT 

O’Connor. 

By LT Taryn Meeks

Region Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic

By LTJG Lisa Redmond

Region Legal Service Office Midwest

Great Lakes legal community hosts law students

LT Elizabeth O'Connor playing for the All-Navy Women's 

Basketball Team.

LCDR Linda Manlove-Braxton gives a presentation on the Informal Physical Evaluation Board process to 

members of the John Marshall University Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic. 

members facing serious injuries and illnesses. 

The meeting between the John Marshall University Law School’s Veterans 

Legal Support Center and Clinic and 

the Midwest legal community educated 

both groups on the resources and services available through each, while fostering professional and community ties 

to the benefit of present and future service members and veterans.
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 17

J

udge advocate CAPT Stacy Pedrozo 

was nominated by the Chief of Naval 

Operations and selected for a one year 

military affairs fellowship at the Council for Foreign Relations. She completed the fellowship in August and had 

numerous opportunities to assist with 

foreign relations through her work.

 “I was truly excited and humbled by 

this unique and challenging opportunity,” said CAPT Pedrozo.

From her prior assignments, CAPT 

Pedrozo brought the precise 

experience and operational 

knowledge needed to work 

on the range of foreign policy 

issues Council for Foreign 

Relations tackled during the 

last year.

CAPT Pedrozo started her 

fellowship by addressing the 

potential impact on national 

security issues based on a 

proposed defense budget. She also provided a comprehensive review to the 

future of U.S. maritime strategy. 

Based on her legal expertise, she 

addressed a variety of issues including: China’s anti-access and area denial 

strategy; the impact of North Korea’s 

aggression over the past year; excessive 

maritime claims; and the U.S. Navy’s 

efforts in the field of alternative energy 

and marine mammal research. 

She led panel discussions on the U.S. 

and China military-to-military relations 

with senior U.S. and Chinese leaders 

and academics. She has also participated in multiple meetings with senior 

policy makers and think tanks from 

China, Taiwan and South Korea. 

In January, CAPT Pedrozo provided 

testimony before the House of Representatives U.S.-China Economic & 

Security Review Commission on China’s active defense strategy and its 

regional impact. She co-hosted a Council for Foreign Relations roundtable on 

China’s anti-access strategy and regional 

impacts in Northeast and Southeast Asia 

with Georgetown University Professor 

Dr. Balbina Huang. Additionally, she 

participated in three multi-day foreign 

policy strategy fora, dedicated to discussing China’s growing military capability and risks for instability in the AsiaPacific region. 

She also led a delegation of prominent 

Council for Foreign Relations members 

on a trip to South Korea, Taiwan, and the 

Southern Philippines.

One of the Council for Foreign Relations’s assets is the benefit of bringing 

different perspectives to bear on current 

issues.

“I have and will continue to interact with academics, policy makers, 

and business leaders on issues that are 

important to the Navy, the military and 

our nation,” said CAPT Pedrozo. 

CAPT Pedrozo’s academic outreach 

efforts included teaching at Columbia 

University on Law of the Sea issues 

related to China; holding roundtable 

discussions with the Yale Fellows and 

State Department Young Leaders Program; mentoring graduate students from 

New York University and undergraduate students from the Virginia Military 

Institute; participating in the Council 

for Foreign Relations roundtable series; 

and editing paper proposals from graduate students interested in Asia Pacific or 

Law of the Sea issues. 

Navy judge advocate selected for 

foreign relations fellowship

By Jen Zeldis

Public Affairs Officer

Founded in 1921, the Council for Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think 

tank, and publisher, according to its Web 

site. The military fellowship program at 

Council for Foreign Relations has been 

in existence since 1996.

CAPT Pedrozo is the first military 

lawyer and woman to be selected for 

this very competitive Council for Foreign Relations military foreign affairs 

fellowship. 

Each military service nominates an 

0-6, however their nominees are not 

guaranteed selection for the 

fellowship. Nominees interview with a panel chaired by 

a prominent policy maker and 

four retired four-star flag and 

general officers. This distinguished nation security panel 

conducts an interview with 

each nominee, asking a range 

of foreign policy questions, 

including regional national 

security issues, budget decisions impacting national security, and other substantive issues concerning ongoing conflicts, future threats, the environment, 

and human rights.

CAPT Pedrozo was most recently 

assigned to the Naval War College, 

where she taught the joint maritime 

component commanders courses, joint 

military operations courses, where she 

served as the legal advisor for Global 

Wargame 2009, and assisted the College of Operational and Strategic 

Leadership in Maritime Operations 

Center. Previously, she was the fleet 

judge advocate, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and 

senior staff judge advocate for Joint 

Task Force 519. 

CAPT Pedrozo holds a Bachelor 

of Arts from Wake Forest University, 

a Master of Arts from the Naval War 

College, and a Juris Doctorate from the 

University of Richmond.

“I have and will continue to interact 

with academics, policy makers, and 

business leaders on issues that are 

important to the Navy, the military and 

our nation,” said CAPT Pedrozo.
Fleet News

18 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

The average lieutenant junior grade in the JAG Corps carries $103,381 in student loan debt. This equates 

to approximately $1,100 each month in student loan payments (assuming a five percent interest rate and a 10-year 

payment plan; under an extended 25-year plan, payments 

would be around $500). As an example of what that 

means to the average new lieutenant junior grade, let’s 

assume we have a new judge advocate named Tom. Tom 

is stationed in Norfolk and has no dependents. Including 

basic allowance for housing and basic allowance for subsistence, Tom will have a net salary of about $4,400 per 

month. His loan payments are currently taking up about 

25 percent of his take-home income. 

Fortunately, there is help for Tom and others similarly 

situated. In September 2007, President George W. Bush 

signed into law the College Cost Reduction and Access 

Act. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act was 

enacted to make college more affordable by phasing in 

many federal loan benefits, including increased grants, 

lower interest rates, a new loan repayment option, and 

loan forgiveness of federally-backed loans for public service. This article will address Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the new repayment option.

For those who qualify, Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives remaining student loan debt after 10 years 

of qualifying service and payment. In short, if you 

spend ten years in the JAG Corps, and faithfully make 

your loan payments each month, your federal loan balance will be forgiven after that 120th payment. Qualifying service also includes, among other jobs, all government employment. All 120 loan payments must be made 

while employed full-time in public service employment 

and must be “qualifying.” Qualifying payments are: 

• Paid through the Direct Loan Program 

• Made after Oct. 1, 2007

• Made under one of several eligible repayment 

plans 

First, loans must be made through the Direct Loan 

Program. In the past, Federal loans were available from 

either the Direct Loan Program or the Federal Family 

Education Loan Program. Colleges chose which program they wanted to participate in. If you are unsure 

what type of loans you have, you can call 1-800-4-FEDAID, or visit http://www.nslds.ed.gov/. If your loans are 

under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, you 

can consolidate under the Direct Loan Program and begin 

making qualifying payments. 

Unfortunately, payments made before Oct. 1, 2007, 

under the Direct Loan Program will not count toward the 

120; there is no provision for retroactive payments. All 

Public service loan forgiveness, repayment assistance programs

By LT Kori Wilson

Military Personnel - Code 61

qualifying payments must be made after Oct. 1, 2007, 

while under the Direct Loan Program. They must also be 

under a qualifying payment plan.

So, what payment plans qualify? There are three types 

of qualifying payment plans to choose from. Two are 

income-based; the other is a standard repayment plan. 

The income-based plans are income contingent repayment and income based repayment. With these plans, 

your payments are recalculated annually according to 

your income and household size. Under income contingent repayment payments are capped at 20 percent of the 

difference between your adjusted gross income and 150 

percent of poverty guidelines, under income based repayment they are capped at 15 percent, with the majority of 

payees being closer to 10 percent. 

The standard repayment plan calculates your payments based on a 10-year repayment plan. You can also 

be on any plan that has payments equal to or greater than 

the payment required under the standard plan. Although, 

with the standard payment plan there would be nothing 

left to forgive at the 10-year mark.

Income based repayment is the new payment plan 

created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. 

Income based repayment is available to both those in 

the Direct Loan Program and Federal Family Education 

Loan Program. To qualify for income based repayment, 

you must have a “partial financial hardship.” You have a 

partial financial hardship if your monthly loan payments 

under income based repayment are less than you would 

be required to pay under the standard 10-year repayment 

plan. Income based repayment is based on adjusted gross 

income and household size. The maximum payment is 

15 percent of the difference between your adjusted gross 

income and 150 percent of poverty guidelines. In our 

above example, Tom would qualify for income based 

repayment and his monthly payment would be around 

$280. 

Payments under income based repayment are recalculated each year based on income and household size. 

Of course, eventually you will promote and no longer 

qualify for income based repayment. Once this happens, 

your payments will be the same as they would have been 

under the 10-year standard repayment plan based on the 

amount of your eligible loans when you first began repaying under income based repayment. In other words, your 

payments will never exceed what they would have been 

under the standard 10-year repayment plan, had you originally chosen that option. However, once payments are 

recalculated, you would likely end up paying for longer 

than 10-years if you leave public service and your loans 

are not forgiven.

Loan forgiveness continued bottom of page 19
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 19

Region Legal Service Office Southeast held its 2011 Training Symposium in June at the Officers’ Club at 

Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. 

The symposium was driven by three 

goals: conduct unit-wide training, facilitate professional networking and the 

exchange of ideas, and enhance unit 

cohesion and camaraderie.

“We have a very unique command in 

the Southeast in that we are very spread 

out,” said CDR Jennifer Roper, Region 

Legal Service Office Southeast director of environmental law, who took 

the lead on planning the symposium. 

“There was an effort to get as many 

people from the command as we could 

together – let’s do some valuable training as a group but also have the face-toface input and interaction.”

Almost 70 members of the command – officer, enlisted, and civilian 

– attended the symposium in person. 

Also participating in some events 

were members of Naval Legal Service Office Southeast, and staff judge 

advocates in Mayport, Fla., and Kings 

Bay, Ga. Personnel unable to attend 

in person were able to participate in 

the training by attending the briefings remotely, using the Defense Connect Online internet-based conference 

system.

The symposium consisted of two 

days of training, including all hands 

general military training sessions, 

legal briefs, and several breakout sessions. Breakout sessions were held for 

officers, enlisted, and civilians, as well 

RLSO Southeast holds annual training symposium

By LT Jonathan Hawkins, LT Mark Richardson

Region Legal Service office Southeast

as additional breakouts for personnel assigned to trial offices and staff 

judge advocate offices. 

Breakout sessions for the enlisted 

personnel included an enlisted community update, an administrative 

separation board practical tips and 

lessons learned discussion, and a 

question and answer period with 

LNCM(SW/AW) Dwayne Layfield. 

It also featured a Legalman Paralegal Education Program update by 

Edward Crews from the Naval Justice School.

Other speakers included CAPT 

Jeffrey Maclay, commanding officer 

for Naval Air Station Jacksonville, 

and Terry Baker, general counsel for 

Navy Region Southeast. 

Junior officers also had the opportunity to meet individually with their 

detailer, LCDR David Gonzalez, and 

attend LCDR Gonzalez's brief on the 

career status board, detailing, and 

promotion process.

There are some potential downsides. Interest on unsubsidized loans accrues, so if you leave qualifying public service, you could end up paying much more in interest than 

you otherwise would have. It is also possible that your 

interest rate will increase if you have to reconsolidate from 

the Federal Family Education Loan Program to the Direct 

Loan Program. And, unfortunately, private loans are not 

eligible. 

The symposium also presented 

a valuable opportunity to be able to 

recognize members of the command 

for outstanding achievements. CAPT 

David Grogan, commanding officer, 

Region Legal Service Office Southeast, 

awarded the Navy and Marine Corps 

Commendation Medal to LCDR 

Erin Baxter, staff judge advocate 

of Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, 

Cuba. CAPT Grogan also presented 

command coins to LN1(SW/AW) 

Cleotis Robinson and LN1 Tamara 

Brewer for completing degrees in 

Paralegal Studies from Roger Williams 

University. 

Region Legal Service Office Southeast is one of the most geographically dispersed commands in the JAG 

Corps, spanning the entire Southeast 

Region, including the states of Texas, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, 

South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, 

as well as Naval Station Guantanamo 

Bay, Cuba. 

CDR Michael Holifield, director of command services, Region Legal Service Office Southeast, conducts 

an all-hands ethics brief. 

On a related note, some law schools have revamped 

their loan repayment assistance programs to work in conjunction with income based repayment and the Federal 

Student Loan Program. JAG Corps service is considered 

qualifying employment at approximately 70 schools with 

an loan repayment assistance program. Eligibility criteria 

and payment amounts vary widely.

For more information, including payment calculators, 

visit: http://studentaid.ed.gov/ and www.ibrinfo.org. 

Loan forgiveness continued from page 18
Fleet News

20 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

At Region Legal Service Office 

Southeast, legalmen have acted as 

recorders in over 15 administrative 

separation board cases since the beginning of the year, with remarkable success. Participation in these administrative boards enabled legalmen to 

gain litigation experience not typically 

available to their civilian counterparts. 

As they increase their confidence 

and skills, legalmen are researching 

and briefing evermore complex legal 

topics, which would otherwise consume much of an attorney’s time. The 

many topics researched have included the military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, rules of engagement, non-combatant 

evacuation operations, maritime security, law of the sea, and 

immigration law. 

Since the JAG Corps partnered with Roger Williams 

University in 2007, the legalman rating has transformed into 

one of the most formally educated rates in today’s Navy. 

This education, combined with legalmen's integral role in 

the judicial process, has only added to their well-deserved 

reputation as consummate professionals and valuable partners 

in the JAG Corps. 

The legalman role in the JAG Corps has greatly evolved in the 

past thirty-nine years. One recent 

advance is the new Legalman Paralegal Education Program (LPEP), 

now fully in effect and being utilized by today’s legalmen to 

improve proficiency and create new 

opportunities to benefit the JAG 

Corps and the fleet. Legalmen are 

now entrusted to undertake many 

critical duties formerly performed 

solely by attorneys. 

Region Legal Service Office Southeast legalmen 

are using LPEP and local command training to conduct 

research projects, draft charges, prepare motions, and 

provide essential support during all stages of the judicial 

process. They are also assisting staff judge advocates 

with legal briefs, presentations and myriad command 

service issues. Today’s legalmen work hand-in-hand with 

attorneys, helping them focus their attention on critical 

legal points. Legalmen have become key players in all 

legal and administrative matters.

By LN1 Lucia J. Abreu

Region Legal Service Office Southeast

Legalmen use training to serve clients

Eight U.S. and Australian military 

lawyers came together to form the 

legal team for exercise Talisman Sabre 

2011 in July. 

Designed to maintain a high level 

of interoperability between U.S. and 

Australian forces, Talisman Sabre was 

held at six Australian Defence Force 

training areas in Central and Northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, with maritime forces exercising 

in the Coral, Timor, and Arafura Seas 

and involved combined command elements in Japan, Hawaii, and California. 

Serving aboard the 7th Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), 

judge advocates participated in every 

aspect of the exercise, from planning and execution to providing legal 

Talisman Sabre: Law from down under

LT Chris Cox

USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19)

LN1 Lucia Abreu, LN2 Claudia Loza, and LCDR Jason 

Jones discuss an administrative separation board.

advice and counsel to VADM Scott 

Van Buskirk, coalition commander, 

and his deputy commander, RADM 

David Johnston of the Australian navy. 

Serving as watchstanders and members of operational planning teams, 

the judge advocates gained invaluable 

experience in joint and combined operations and learned about combat operations in the land, air, and sea. 

Led by CDR Joe Carilli, the U.S. 

7th Fleet force judge advocate, and 

his counterpart, LTC David Bishop of 

the Australian army, both brought vast 

amounts of experience in operational 

law. 

“Working with lawyers of this caliber has made me a better operational 

lawyer,” said LT Sarelle Woodward, 

Australian Air Force Fleet.

“This truly has been a professionally rewarding experience,” said LTC 

Bishop, adding that it was “a rare and 

unique opportunity.” 

CDR Carilli asserted “it has been a 

pleasure working with a team of judge 

advocates on an exercise that involves 

so many moving parts in a substantial 

operating area.”

Talisman Sabre is a biennial military 

exercise which combines Australian 

and U.S. maritime, land, and air forces 

and reflects the close military relationship between Australia and the United 

States. The exercise is the largest joint 

military exercise undertaken by the 

Australian Defense Force with around 

14,000 U.S. and 8,500 Australian personnel participating and provides an 

opportunity to conduct operations in a 

combined and joint environment that 

will increase both countries’ war-fighting capabilities to respond to regional 

crises. 
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 21

My first experience with a rifle came at my pre-deployment training with the Army in Fort Lewis, Wash. It was a 

cold, rainy March day and I crawled into a mud hole to shoot 

at some pop-up targets 100-300 yards away with my M-16. It 

was a rough introduction to rifle shooting. I basically raised 

the rifle and hoped I was aiming at the pop-up target and then 

pulled the trigger. 

For two weeks in May 2011, I had a completely different 

experience, shooting with the Navy Marksmanship Team. The 

Team is made up of elite level shooters but is also very inviting 

to new shooters, without whom the program would not continue. From day one, the experienced and distinguished shooters focused on teaching and guiding the 

“new shooters.” Mind 

you, “new shooter” is a 

status term that means 

only that the shooter 

has not competed at 

this high level of competition; new shooters 

may have several years 

of shooting experience. 

Many of them had.

There was a lot to 

learn about shooting a 

bulls-eye competition 

such as this one. First, 

there was a ton of gear 

to get comfortable with. 

There is a rifle jacket, a 

shooting mat, a shooting glove, a sling, and 

a scope that is on the ground next to you. Getting comfortable with all the gear and using it properly was a necessity to 

score well. 

Second, I had to learn about the environmental aspects of 

shooting the rifle. This entailed calculating the wind, judging 

the mirage, and studying the quality of the light from the sun 

hitting the target. Light can affect the elevation needed on the 

rifle. Wind and mirage (the heat waves rising from the ground) 

will affect the windage required. All of these determinations 

must be made quickly from both pre-determined calculations 

and feel. Competition shooting requires quick calculations 

and calm execution.

During the first week we competed against shooters 

from the Pacific Fleet. The first two days were the pistol 

competition. We shot the .45 one-handed, both slow fire and 

rapid fire, from the 25 and 50 yard lines. It was a big change 

from shooting the Beretta tactically (with both hands).

The third day started the rifle portion of the Pacific Fleet 

competition. We used match grade M-16s with iron sights. 

The National Match Course of Fire consists of four events: 

1) 200 yard standing slow fire: 10 rounds in 10 minutes

2) 200 yard sitting rapid fire: 10 rounds in 1 minute with 

one magazine change

3) 300 yard prone rapid fire: 10 rounds in 1 minute with one 

magazine change

4) 600 yard prone slow fire: 20 rounds in 20 minutes

During the first week all of these things seemed overwhelming. Luckily I had a great coach, a distinguished shooter himself, GMC Don Christensen. During the Pacific Fleet week, 

I ended up winning Best New Female Shooter. I was also 

selected to participate on the Command Navy Region Southwest team during the 

team match. 

Teams are made up 

of four people from the 

same command and one 

must be a new shooter. 

The three teammates I 

shot with, AME1 Cliff 

Sanders, MA1 Trevor 

Patty and LT Eric 

Palmer, are all in the top 

ten best shooters on the 

west coast and likely 

the entire Navy. They 

carried the team as I 

eeked out my meager 

new shooter level score. 

We managed to win the 

team match. We won 

the privilege of getting 

our names engraved on 

a large trophy that has been passed down for over 40 years.

The second week was the All Navy week where we 

competed against the shooters from the east coast. It was the 

same course of fire but our competition was elevated. While 

my coach had assisted me with noticing changes in wind and 

mirage the first week, during the All Navy phase he pushed 

me to go completely solo. I made a few mistakes but learned 

a lot. I ended up winning Best New Shooter (for both genders) 

for the All Navy phase and won a trophy M1 Garand rifle. 

The best new shooter on the east coast edged out my score so 

I finished in 1st place on the west coast and 2nd place Navywide. 

I had a great experience, and I feel that I developed a lot 

as an officer. I am proud also to be an official member of 

the Navy Marksmanship Team. I have a long way to go to 

attain Distinguished Shooter status, which is a career-long 

endeavor for most shooters. 

By LT Jasmine Scott

Region Legal Service Office Southwest

Shooting for the Navy marksmanship team

GMC Don Christensen fires in the 600 yard long range slow fire event while LT Jasmine 

Scott spots the shot and keeps score.
Fleet News

22 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

I

’m often asked by my shipmates 

what a legalman does. After all, 

there are only five of us onboard the 

USS Enterprise (Big “E”). We don’t 

work on the flight deck, we don’t work 

in the hanger bay, and we don’t do 

maintenance or repairs. So the question I’ve been asked is, “What exactly 

do you do?” Let me try to describe 

my life as a legalman onboard an aircraft carrier. 

There is no such thing as a routine 

day for a Navy legalman on an aircraft 

carrier. No two days are the same, and 

we have to be ready to handle any 

issue that comes our way, from to nonjudicial punishments, courts-martial, 

administrative separations, powers-ofattorney, or legal assistance. 

We are responsible for all the legal 

work for Big “E” Sailors. I graduated 

from Naval Justice School in May 

2010, and as a first-tour legalman on 

one of the biggest decks in the Navy, it 

is sometimes overwhelming. After all, 

A legalman's job at sea on the Big“E”

this is my first deployment. My chief 

tells me that all the experience I am 

getting in this tour will serve me well 

throughout my career. 

The Big “E” legal team also has two 

officers. The department head, is the 

commanding officer’s right-hand man, 

or woman in our case, when it comes 

to all legal issues. She has the nickname of the “Judge.” 

Our chief makes sure everything is 

running smoothly and makes sure the 

officer and enlisted Sailors are taken 

care of. My chief has been in the 

Navy for almost twenty-two years and 

nothing surprises her. Nothing gets 

past her either-- trust me, I know from 

personal experience.

I'm on the non-judicial punishments desk. I like to think that the 

“Judge” and I are partners because we 

are at Captain’s Mast together every 

week. After we get an investigation, 

we read them and make suggestions 

as to what to charge. I like to put 

my “defense hat” on and argue the 

other side of the case with my Judge. 

By LN3 Kendra Johnson

USS Enterprise (CVN 65)

After I draft the charges and they are 

reviewed, I check the package one last 

time to make sure all the evidence is 

organized. Then I make sure the members read and understand the evidence 

and charges against them. After nonjudicial punishments, I inform the 

members of their appeal rights and 

answer any questions. 

My chief tells us all the time, it is 

not good enough to just be a legalman, 

you have to be a well-rounded Sailor. 

You have to go out and get qualified in 

shipboard qualifications, go to many 

different working parties, be assigned 

to repair lockers, stand overnight duty 

and everything else a Sailor anywhere 

on the ship must do. I’m really close 

to getting my Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification. I have 

been studying every night and can’t 

wait to proudly wear my pin.

We may be on the oldest ship in 

the Navy, but we like to say that it 

is a 1961 hotrod. I am proud to be a 

Big “E” Sailor and a member of the 

world's greatest legal team. 

LN3 Kendra Johnson is one of five legalmen onboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65).
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 23

LN1 Misty Galentine became the JAG Corps’ first Information Dominance Warfare Specialist during a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam. 

While assigned to Navy Information Operations Command Hawaii, 

LN1 Galentine was one of 67 personnel selected to participate in a rigorous personal qualification process to 

become one of the initial qualifiers for 

the Enlisted Information Dominance 

Warfare Specialist pin.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to 

see what they do,” said LN1 Galentine. “This process gave me the opportunity to learn about the community 

that I was supporting, and it gave me a 

greater appreciation and understanding 

for what they do.”

The Information Dominance Warfare pin, the Navy’s newest warfare 

By LN1 James Hills

Region Legal Service Office Hawaii

device, represents a command identity 

for the Information Dominance Corps, 

which is comprised of 46,000 officers, 

enlisted, and civilian professionals in 

diverse fields such as information, intelligence, and oceanography.

“It was probably the most challenging qualification I’ve had to obtain,” said 

LN1 Galentine. “When going after SurLegalman earns information dominance warfare insignia

face Warfare or Air Warfare, you have 

to know the basic history of the Navy. 

When going after Information Dominance Warfare, you have to know the 

history of cryptology as well.”

LN1 Galentine wears the Information 

Dominance Warfare device to indicate 

that she has achieved a level of excellence and proficiency in the Information 

Dominance community.

“It’s about trust. The commanding 

officer trusts us to get the right information. If we can’t do that, we have no 

value,” said LNC Harry Smith. “This 

makes the command feel like we’re part 

of their team and dedicated to their mission.”

“This is exactly what our community 

wants to see from our legalmen,” said 

LNC Smith. “She’s proven herself to her 

counterparts and her peers.”

LN1 Galentine transferred to Region 

Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic in 

February.

LN1 Misty Galentine is the first legalman to earn 

the Information Dominance Warfare Insignia. 

I

am assigned to the Naval Legal Service Office Pacific Det. 

Guam. Our responsibility is to provide legal assistance 

and defense services to military members and their families. 

These services could be as simple as drafting a will, or as 

complicated as representing a client at a court martial. 

I was excited and pretty nervous when I arrived on Guam. 

I had done legal work before as an intern, but this would be 

the first time I would have my own clients, my own office, 

and the first time I would actually be practicing military law. 

I had exactly two weeks in the office before I went underway 

for a three-and-a-half week deployment with the USS Frank 

Cable (AS 40). 

I had never been onboard a ship before, let alone out to sea 

for three weeks. I decided that I would get to know the Sailors 

and earn their trust. 

USS Frank Cable arrived in Malaysia and was in port for 

seven days. There were a number of tours and community 

service projects lined up for the sailors onboard, and I decided 

to take advantage of the opportunities. I signed up for two 

events: Habitat for Humanity and the day hike up Mount 

Kinabalu. I figured both of these activities would get me 

closer to the Sailors.

Underway aboard USS Frank Cable

 During the activities I found out that quite a few of the 

Sailors thought they could only talk to legal if they had a major 

issue. Many of them had questions about whether something 

actually was a legal issue that they should be worried about, 

and I told them that they could come see me and I would help 

them out. The Sailors now felt comfortable coming to me. 

When I learned that my first duty station would be as a legal 

assistance/defense attorney, I was excited to serve the Sailors 

and get to know them. I quickly realized that in order to serve 

the Sailor, I needed to understand the Sailor. My time onboard 

the USS Frank Cable was a valuable learning experience.

By LTJG Jennifer Buyske

Naval Legal Service Office Pacific Det. Guam

LTJG Jennifer Buyske and fellow USS Frank Cable sailors support a Habitat 

for Humanity in service project in Malaysia. 
Fleet News

24 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

“We want to make sure that the people who are victims 

of any kind of crime are properly taken care of and 

make sure that their concerns are resolved to the best of our 

ability before we close out any of their cases,” said RADM 

Mark S. Boensel Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, on 

why the Navy implemented the Victim and Witness Assistance 

Program (VWAP). 

The purpose of VWAP is to implement policy, assign 

responsibilities and prescribe procedures to provide assistance 

to victims of crimes and witnesses to crimes committed in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; to minimize 

the effects of crime and help victims and witnesses participate 

in the military justice system; to ensure that victims and witnesses receive appropriate response and assistance; to protect 

victims from further harm or hardship to ensure that all victims and witnesses are afforded their rights.

At the VWAP council meeting, CDR Frank D. Hutchison, 

staff judge advocate and liaison officer, discussed the program.

“All region commanders, are responsible for VWAP for 

all shore commands and other tenant commands that are 

not assigned to a fleet activity,” said CDR Hutchison. “...

Because of that, VWAP is widespread and robust. It touches 

on a lot of commands that otherwise Navy Region MidAtlantic wouldn’t reach out and touch.”

VWAP services are available to all service members as 

well as military dependents including spouses and children, as 

well as members of the civilian population who are victims or 

witnesses of crimes committed. “If someone is a victim of a 

crime, they should report that to their chain of command or to 

law enforcement,” said CDR Hutchison.

Victims, witnesses have a voice with VWAP

By David Todd

The Flagship, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic “We have certain responsibilities in the program to ensure 

that the program is functioning as it should. Largely that is 

orchestrated through the legal side, but it’s fair to say that it’s 

an extensive administrative review process that we have to go 

through to ensure that all the pieces of the program are done 

and that we are informing the commands, tenant commands 

and others of their responsibilities under the program, thus 

ensuring that victims and witnesses are well taken care of,” 

said RADM Boensel.

RADM Boensel emphasized the importance for individuals 

to come forward when they are a victim of a crime.

“It’s very difficult for us to fix a problem if we don’t know 

about the problem,” said RADM Boensel. “It is probably fair 

to say that most crimes and infractions like that are discovered 

because someone comes and tells us that something happened. 

Certainly that’s the case in many of the domestic assault and 

sexual assault (cases). Our knowledge of them really comes 

from the victim reporting it to us or to someone else, and 

without that, it’s very difficult for us to do anything to help 

resolve it.”

“Additionally, our ability to prosecute is really hampered 

if we don’t have a victim or a witness come forward to be 

able to testify in the proceeding to tell us what happened. 

Not that it is impossible to do, but it makes it more difficult 

to proceed without their cooperation.”

The bottom line is whether you are a victim or a witness 

of a crime, communication is the key factor to receiving 

and upholding justice.

“The only way the criminal justice system works is if victims 

of crimes are fully invested in the process,” said Hutchison. 

“The program makes sure that victims and witnesses receive 

the services they are entitled to and receive the information 

they are entitled to.”

LN2 Lakin Bradbury, Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, Victim and Witness Assistance Program coordinator listens as LT Jonathan Hullihan, discusses 

witness rights to CDR Frank Hutchison, staff judge advocate.
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 25

head, fuse delay, heading restriction and 

other mitigation techniques eliminate 

potential for collateral damage. After 

U.S. 7th Fleet approves target sets, they 

are forwarded up the chain of command 

to the national level for further vetting.

The expertise that LT Battisti utilized 

during this crisis came as a result of his 

attendance at the Joint Targeting School 

collateral damage estimate methodology course where he was subsequently 

qualified as an analyst and instructor. 

Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet saw such 

great value in the advice he received 

from LT Battisti, he signed an order 

directing all U.S. 7th Fleet, subordinate 

command, and transiting carrier strike 

group legal offices to maintain one 

judge advocate qualified as a collateral 

damage estimate analyst – a big step 

in the right direction for operational 

lawyers. 

As the U.S. 7th Fleet assistant judge advocate, LT John Battisti has had 

an extremely unique opportunity for a 

second tour judge advocate, and he has 

capitalized on it. He has captured a 

leading role on the 7th Fleet staff’s contingency operation planning team. Specifically, he is the legal action officer for 

the U.S. 7th Fleet Fires Element. The 

fires element is in charge of developing 

and maintaining all Navy nominated 

targets in support of each U.S. Pacific 

Command operational plan. U.S. 7th 

Fleet relies on LT Battisti as the primary 

collateral damage estimate analyst to 

review the thousands of U.S. 7th Fleet 

targets to ensure that each complies 

with the law of armed conflict. 

Using his unique skill set, LT Battisti 

played an integral role during the period 

following the North Korean shelling of 

a South Korean Island. On Nov. 23, 

2010, South Korea conducted a routine live fire exercise in the vicinity of 

the North West Islands. In response, 

North Korea fired artillery shells at the 

South Korean island of Y-P Do, killing two South Korean marines and two 

civilians. Subsequent to the shelling 

of Y-P Do, the two Korea's were arguably closer to war than they had been 

since the 1953 armistice. LT Battisti 

and the inter-agency targeting federation worked around the clock to ensure 

that U.S. 7th Fleet was prepared for any 

contingency. 

In his role as legal action officer for 

the U.S. 7th Fleet fires element, LT Battisti personally advises Commander, 

U.S. 7th Fleet on the legality of targeting packages, explaining in expert detail 

how the choice of weapon class, warLT Anthony J. Falvo 

Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet

Judge advocate takes leading role on 7th fleet 

contingency operation planning team

LCDR Charles Lazar, 7th Fleet's targeting officer, and LT John Battisti discuss collateral damage estimate methodology during a target review session onboard 

USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19). 
Fleet News

26 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Becoming a Navy judge advocate was the career path that was constantly in the back of my mind throughout 

law school. Everything about it appealed to me – the 

opportunity for travel and adventure, the immediate 

responsibility given to junior officers, the focus on physical 

fitness and a well-rounded life, and the core Navy values 

of honor, courage and commitment. Upon my graduation 

from law school, I realized that being a Navy JAG was the 

ideal job for me; and, I knew I had to put forth my best 

effort to make it happen. 

I started my internship with Region Legal Service Office 

Southwest in November 2010. It was immediately clear 

that I was someplace special. Everyone went out of their 

way to welcome me. I felt like people really wanted me 

to have a positive experience. Right away, the attorneys 

in the office started showing me the ropes. In my first 

week, I observed a court-martial, sat in on an interview 

with a sexual assault victim, and went onboard my first 

naval vessel, USS Germantown (LSD 42), to interview 

witnesses for a court-martial. Although I felt like everyone 

was speaking a foreign language to me with all the Navy 

acronyms, I couldn’t wait for what I would get to do next.

During the course of my internship, I’ve had the 

opportunity to do things that no other job could possibly 

offer. I’ve interviewed witnesses on multiple ships, from 

destroyers to carriers, and visited helicopter squadrons on 

A JAG Corps intern's perspective

By Kymberly Murphy

Region Legal Service Office Southwest Intern

Naval Legal Service Office Northwest summer intern David Trangsrud 

and LT Adrianne Mittelstaedt onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard

during Seattle Fleetweek. 

Naval Air Station North Island. I’ve been able to sit in on 

meetings between trial counsel and commanding officers 

about the status of courts-martial belonging to their 

commands; and, I’ve gotten the chance to watch Naval 

Criminal Investigative Service interrogations in person. 

It hasn’t all been just hard work, though. The office has 

done a great job of including me in their social events. It’s 

great to be in an environment where everyone works hard 

and also has a lot of fun together.

 In addition to all the field trips, the legal work assigned 

to me was really interesting. Before starting my internship 

at Region Legal Service Office Southwest, I was not sure 

in what area of law I wanted to practice or even if I wanted 

to litigate cases. My experience thus far has completely 

changed my mind – I love it here in the trial shop! The 

attorneys have been awesome with involving me at all 

stages of a case. So far, I’ve written prescreen reports for 

new cases, participated in victim and witness interviews 

and drafted their direct and cross exams for trial, drafted 

motions on evidence and expert witness issues, and listened 

to mock opening statements and closing arguments.

Taking this internship has been the best legal 

working experience I’ve had and I am so grateful for the 

opportunity. Everything I’ve learned will be incredibly 

helpful throughout my future legal career. Furthermore, I 

recently found out that I was professionally recommended 

by the most recent JAG Corps accessions selection board, 

and I can’t wait to start my Navy career.

Region Legal Service Office Southwest summer intern Katarzyna 

Grzechnik with LTJG Barbara Colberg and LTJG John Cole at the 

Lemoore shooting range.
Fleet News

jag.navy.mil 27

Several dozen law students spent 

their summer interning at various 

National Capital Region Navy JAG 

Corps offices; and for two days the 

legal interns got a taste of life in the 

fleet when they were introduced to 

several shore and sea commands in 

Norfolk, Va. 

While onboard the Iwo 

Jima (LHD-7), the interns 

viewed the ship’s well deck, 

flight deck, and bridge. The 

interns also learned about 

the history, capabilities, 

and everyday life of the 

amphibious assault ship and 

her crew. At the Submarine Training Facility, the 

interns visited a virtual reality trainer and the toured 

the USS Boise (SSN-764). 

At the Navy Expeditionary 

Combat Command, several senior officers spoke to 

the interns about the comDC interns get a taste of Navy life

LT Robert Burk

Criminal Law - Code 20 

mand’s mission, as well as the role 

judge advocates play in completing 

that mission. 

According to Joanna Gonzalez, 

a third year law student at Loyola 

University New Orleans, interned at 

General Litigation - Code 14, “the 

trip to Norfolk was great exposure to 

other branches within the Navy.” 

National Capital Region interns pose for a picture before their tour of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7).

National Capital Region interns onboard a demonstration SH-60 Seahawk 

helicopter.

Annie Preis, a second year law student at Columbia University, interned at 

Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Review 

Activity, gained valuable perspective on 

how the JAG Corps works with the line 

community: “My favorite parts of briefings were when line officers answered 

the question: ‘What can judge advocates 

do to best help you?’”

The Navy JAG Corps 

summer intern program helps 

expose interns to the many 

facets of life as a military 

lawyer. LT Tashinda Richardson, internship coordinator, Military Personnel - Code 

61, explained “Interns get the 

chance to ‘try on’ the job like 

a pair of boots and see how it 

fits. Their work at the various divisions allows them to 

see what type of work they 

will do and the intern events 

give them a chance to see 

the ‘quality of life’ provided 

with a career in the Navy 

JAG Corps.” 
Alumni

28 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Spotlight On

LT Donald Marcari 

Former judge advocate, LT 

Donald Marcari’s career in the 

JAG Corps, while brief, provided 

him with vast legal experience 

that has served him well in his 

civilian career. Since 2000, LT 

Marcari has been a managing partner at the firm 

Marcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban; where 

he is the senior litigator. The firm has 13 offices 

throughout Virginia and North Carolina and specializes in Personal Injury & Civil Litigation. 

LT Marcari's first tour was to the mobile judge 

advocate trial team for the senior defense counsel, followed by tours with the Naval Legal Service Office and Naval Air Station Oceana. 

During his JAG Corps career, LT Marcari represented military members in the U.S. and overseas in over 40 trials and provided legal assistance to hundreds of active duty, family members 

and retired personnel. 

LT Marcari attended college at Appalachian 

State University where he received his bachelor’s degree. Marcari went on to earn his Juris 

Doctor from Campbell University School of Law 

and is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. 

Court of Military Appeals, Eastern District Court 

4th Circuit and the North Carolina and Virginia 

State Bars.

CAPT Alexander Whitaker

After his command tour at Naval Legal Service Office Southeast, CAPT Alexander Whitaker retired in 2007 

and returned to his undergraduate alma mater, where he is 

now the college's chief of staff. Berry College is a toptier liberal arts college in northwest Georgia that boasts the 

nation’s largest campus and largest student work program. 

It has an undergraduate student body of over 1,900 students, 

a $100 million budget, and endowment of over $650 million. 

CAPT Whitaker's duties include coordinating the 

activities of the school’s governing board as corporate 

secretary and overseeing various program areas of the 

college. He is involved in the various legal issues that arise 

at the school, and also does fundraising. Working as the 

president’s principal assistant and one of the 

officers of the college, he describes his job 

as “not unlike a Navy chief of staff, staff 

judge advocate, and executive assistant all 

combined. There’s never a dull moment.” 

CAPT Whitaker entered the JAG Corps 

through the Law Education Program, having 

been commissioned initially in 1982 as a special duty intelligence officer, serving first in USS America (CV-66). He earned 

his Juris Doctor at the University of Virginia and graduated with 

honors from the Naval Justice School. 

CAPT Whitaker's first tour was at Naval Legal Service Office 

Long Beach, followed by staff judge advocate tours in Scotland and London. An international law subspecialist, he earned 

his Master of Laws in international and comparative law from 

Georgetown, and was head of the Law of the Sea branch in the 

International and Operational Law Division - Code 10 before 

transferring to Japan as the force judge advocate. In Japan he 

managed the U.S. lawsuit that shut down the Shinkampo/Envirotech incineration plant, the first tort action overseas of its kind.

After an executive officer tour at Trial Service Office East in 

Norfolk, Va., he served as deputy assistant judge advocate general for General Litigation - Code 14 before going to command 

in Jacksonville. When he retired he had over 25 years of service. During his Navy years he had traveled to 27 countries on 

five continents.

“I always viewed my Navy service as making possible 

another career of service after I took off the uniform,” he said. 

“I was delighted to have the opportunity to return to my college and give back to the place that I credit in many ways with 

making my JAG Corps career possible and so rewarding. In the 

same way, I credit the Navy and JAG Corps with preparing me 

well for my current responsibilities.”

CAPT Whitaker is grateful for his years in the JAG Corps. 

“I am very thankful for the tremendous leaders I had in the JAG 

Corps to learn from and for the many exceptional shipmates of 

all ranks I was privileged to work with,” he said. He says he 

continues to stay in touch with those he served with through 

e-mail and Facebook, and in his travels.

His advice for junior JAG officers? “Cherish the opportunity 

you have to practice law in direct service of your country: that’s 

not something many lawyers get to do. Appreciate the exceptional quality of those you work for and with, and the camaraderie that you will never replicate in any other setting. And invest 

yourself fully in those who work for you: you will have no 

greater satisfaction through the years than seeing them succeed and do great things.”
Civilians

jag.navy.mil 29

Civilian Advisory Panel

I

n an era of change, when businesses, organizations, and 

individuals demand and seek a better way to conduct 

business, the JAG Corps is pursuing change in the way it 

communicates with its civilian community. 

Civilians in the JAG Corps have inquired about their role 

in the community. They requested a representative who could 

advocate on their behalf and a program manager to work on 

career development. They looked for a way to express and 

direct their concerns to a division where they would be heard 

and addressed. Those inquiries and requests did not fall on 

deaf ears. 

On Nov. 4, 2010, VADM James W. Houck, the Judge 

Advocate General, established the JAG Corps Civilian Advisory Panel (JAGCAP). Their mission is to create a structured 

forum for two-way communication between senior leadership 

and the civilian community. This is an ongoing mission to 

facilitate long-term development of a more satisfied and cohesive civilian team within the JAG Corps.

JAGCAP consists of representatives from a cross section 

of the JAG Corps civilian community in both duties and geographic location. Currently serving are:

Daniel Barnes, Office of the Judge Advocate General 

Gary Major, Region Legal Service Office Midwest

Connie Terrell, Naval Legal Service Office Southwest

Keith Farney, Naval Justice School

Laurie Nagafuchi, Region Legal Service Office Hawaii 

Mike Humphrey, Naval Legal Service Office Northwest

Janet Schmahl, Naval Legal Service Office Central 

Renee Bentley, Naval Legal Service Office Southeast

Dwain Alexander, Naval Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic

JAGCAP has met several times to develop business rules 

and mechanisms to solicit and distribute information to 

and from the civilian community. At the outset, JAGCAP 

determined that information received from individuals in the 

community will be considered confidential to allow the free 

sharing of ideas and concerns. Incoming information will be 

analyzed for issues and proposed solutions. Person submitting 

information can indicate if they want the submission 

acknowledged and if are available for further communication 

on and development of their issue. The information submitted 

will be analyzed to identify specific issues, the distribution 

and impact of the issue, proposed corrective courses of 

action, associated tangible and intangible costs and benefits 

associated with the various courses of action, feasibility of 

the individual courses of action, and the time to implement 

the proposed course of action. This information will then be 

submitted to senior leadership for consideration. JAGCAP 

will also provide a response back to the community, and if 

appropriate, the individual. 

This is a new direction for both the senior leadership and 

the civilian community. JAGCAP's first mission is to build 

credibility and confidence by opening a conduit for communication, provide timely responses, and work to identify or 

develop answers to questions and concerns. JAGCAP will 

work hard to review and understand the submissions and to 

make sure that the JAG Corps is aware of the issues and concerns of the civilians. JAGCAP's vision is that it will be a 

vehicle for positive change in the lives of the civilian work 

force.

New directions and change need to be pursued with dedication and persistence, but also with consideration for the 

existing structures and their purposes. Change can be a mutative process where common sense dictates that a new process 

or procedure is required with immediate implementation. In 

other instances, change can be an evolutionary process where 

steps have to be followed to insure the desired end result is 

accomplished and sustainable. JAGCAP will pursue the 

issues presented with dedication and persistence, but it will 

also have to work with and follow existing protocol for development and implementation of some new concepts. The first 

JAGCAP team looks forward to working for and with you to 

make a better civilian workforce in the JAG Corps. 

• JAGCAP will maintain regular contact with the civilian community via quarterly published newsletters, articles in 

the JAGMAG. JAGCAP will present information from senior JAG Corps leadership, responses to inquiries from the 

field, and new developments in our community. 

• JAGCAP will receive information from the civilian community via a private mail box for JAGCAP (JAGCAP@navy.

mil). Information will be received, acknowledged, researched, and responded to by the JAGCAP. Submissions will be 

confidential for use only by JAGCAP. 

JAG Corps Civilian Advisory Panel Communicator

In an effort to improve the JAG Corps civilian experience JAGCAP will implement the following measures: 
30 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Book Review

Edited By Paul Stillwell

Book review provided by LT Candace Holmes, Region Legal Service Office Naval District Washington

The Golden Thirteen

Recollections of the first black naval officers

The inevitability of World War II loomed over the United 

States in the early 1940s. At the same time, our country was also fighting another war: segregation. Unfortunately, this battle permeated the Navy as well. The Secretary of the Navy at that time, Frank Knox, was a major catalyst for the continued segregation within the Department 

of the Navy. Sure, there were many African American 

men serving in the Navy, about 100,000 in fact. However, 

none of them were officers. African Americans were forbidden from serving as officers due to a fear that integration would cause disruption among the officer community. 

This misguided fear was so deeply rooted in the Navy’s 

core leadership that it took external pressure from several 

political and community-based organizations to influence 

the Navy leadership to take any action. Responding to 

this pressure, Adlai Stevenson, the assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, wrote a memo urging Secretary Knox to 

consider commissioning African Americans as officers in 

the Navy. In February of 1944, the Navy slowly opened 

its doors to African Americans to become commissioned 

officers. Some of those officers, later known as the Golden 

Thirteen, recounted their experiences in Paul Stillwell’s 

book The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First 

Black Naval Officers. 

One of the features I appreciated most about Mr. Stillwell’s book is that he let the men tell their own stories 

through oral histories. It is clear that Stillwell took great 

care in the construction of the novel and made a significant 

effort to uphold the dignity of each individual’s memory, 

despite the inevitable memory flaws that often accompany 

old age. Not only did Stillwell use the oral histories of 

each portrayed member, but he also consulted historians, 

archived documents and records that aided in painting a 

well-rounded portrait of each individual depicted. The 

author introduces each chapter with a short story about 

the personality and the character of each individual based 

on his interactions with them while preparing to write the 

book. Each chapter contains the recollections and pictures of one of the eight remaining members of the Golden 

Thirteen from childhood to most recent; highlighting not 

only their naval careers and the time they spent training at 

Camp Robert Smalls, but their various gains and achievements post-Navy as well. Stillwell’s determination to produce an accurate account also led him to interview three of 

the white officers that either instructed during the officer 

training course or served with the members of the Golden 

Thirteen, which provides for a well-balanced historical 

depiction. 

In his introduction, Stillwell posits a plausible theory as 

to why the Navy decided to commission the first African 

American naval officers: the Navy was under political 

pressure to commission twelve African American officers. 

They decided to select 16 people with the rationale being 

that at least 25 percent of them would be unsuccessful. 

We later find out, however, that all sixteen men passed the 

course with a class average of 3.89. In the end, twelve 

men were chosen to become officers and one was made 

a warrant officer. The process by which these specific 

individuals were selected for commissioning is unknown 

to this day, even to the members of the Golden Thirteen; 

however, each one of them were recognized as leaders 

while enlisted and demonstrated leadership early on in 

their youth. 

The author does an excellent job of chronicling each 

officer’s training as they experienced it. The sixteen chosen 

individuals reported to Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago for officer training at Camp Robert Smalls. The 

men provide mixed opinions concerning their treatment at 

Camp Robert Smalls during their crash course in officer 

training. Some said they felt the treatment was deliberately harsh and intentionally difficult; others thought the 

instructors were fair. By including the stories from the 

three white officers who either served with or taught them 

at Camp Robert Smalls, Stillwell offers a third perspective 

and allows the readers to come to their own conclusions. 

Regardless of what happened at Camp Robert Smalls, the 

men decided early on that they were there for a reason and 

whatever that reason was, they were determined not to fail 

and they vowed “sink or swim together,” staying up late 

at night drilling each other on the subjects until everyone 

knew the material. 

To say that the transition for the members of the 

Golden Thirteen as officers in the Navy was a smooth 

one would be misleading. They did suffer a few instances 

of prejudice after becoming officers. One member, Mr. 

Graham Martin, tells the story of how he and his wife went 

to Chicago to eat at a downtown restaurant and laxatives 

were put into their food. Other officers, like Mr. Samuel 

Barnes, recall meeting a few hostilities within the naval 

community like not being welcomed in the Officer’s Club or 
jag.navy.mil 31

Book Review

Read any great books lately? Submit your book review to 

natalie.morehouse@navy.mil.

Sailors crossing the street in order to avoid saluting. Most 

of their white counterparts were able to look past the color 

of their skin and respect the men as officers once they got a 

chance to know them, see them as human beings, and build 

that foundation of trust and mutual respect. 

The most amazing aspect of the book was that despite 

being assigned to menial jobs and assignments upon their 

commissioning (even though they were qualified enough to 

be deck officers) these officers worked hard, took their assignments with pride, and were successful in whatever assignment 

they were given; whether working as junior officers of the day, 

personnel officers, instructors, or tugboat drivers. They were 

proud to be officers and proud to be in the Navy. Additionally, 

they continued go above and beyond the call of duty as they 

became invaluable mentors and role models for the African 

American Sailors in the service. In fact, many of them continued to serve their country after they got out by working alongside the Navy to recruit more African American Sailors and 

officers in the service. 

As somewhat of a bonus 

feature, Stillwell includes 

an interesting recollection 

about the destroyer escort, 

USS Mason (DE-529), 

the largest ship to have an 

African American enlisted 

crew during World War II, 

told through the eyes of 

the retired Reserve Commanding Officer Norman 

H. Meyer, and James E. 

Hair, his first lieutenant 

and another member of the 

Golden Thirteen. In his 

chapter, Meyer recounts 

his high expectations of 

his crew and proudly noted 

that they worked hard to meet his standards and that they 

were “as capable as their white counterparts in any destroyer 

escort.” 

One thing is made clear from a reading of this book; the 

members of the Golden Thirteen took extreme pride in serving 

their country as naval officers. Leadership skills developed in 

the Navy certainly transferred to civilian life as each member 

became successful in their own right. Stillwell made a great 

decision in highlighting the individuals’ accomplishments 

before and after the Navy, proving that they were able to overcome the racial and prejudicial obstacles they each faced in 

their individual lives and take on such roles as a professional 

engineer, a social worker, a teacher, an attorney, an administrator with a doctorate, an Urban League official, the first African 

American department head in the city government of Dayton, 

Ohio, the first African American member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and a justice of a state appellate 

court. 

The book concludes with a chapter discussing the 

“Legacy of the Thirteen.” Here, Stillwell discusses the lasting 

impact that the Golden Thirteen had on the Navy. After the 

commissioning of the Golden Thirteen, the opportunities 

within the Navy for African Americans increased. Soon, other 

changes were made, like desegregating military housing and 

eradicating antiquated naval policies that required African 

Americans be assigned only to certain types of vessels and 

shore assignments. Though only one member of the Golden 

Thirteen, Dennis Nelson, stayed in the Navy for a full career, 

each one of these members had an enormous impact on the 

Navy. 

Although the last member of the Golden Thirteen, Frank 

Sublett, Jr., died in 2006, 

the memories of those 

determined and proud individuals live on through 

this book and through the 

many officers who came 

after them. Many of us 

are able to succeed in the 

Navy today because they 

and many other brave men 

and women paved the way 

and set a standard each 

of us can aspire to meet. 

Through the courage, persistence, and commitment 

of the Golden Thirteen 

and their successors, doors 

have been opened.

Today, as recruits of all 

ethnicities and all races enter the “Golden Thirteen” in-processing building, the first thing they see is a photo of the officers. That building serves as a constant reminder of how far 

this Navy has come. And even though we have yet more work 

to do, these courageous men and the sacrifices they made 

serve as a lesson that there is no limit to how far this Navy 

can go when we are all given a chance to be successful. I was 

genuinely moved by this book and the recollections contained 

therein; it has inspired and motivated me to be not just the best 

officer I can be, but the best individual I can be both in and 

outside the Navy, and I am confident that it will have the same 

impact on anyone else who reads it. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. 

The sixteen chosen individuals during an inspection at Camp Robert Smalls at Great 

Lakes Naval Station in Chicago.
Milestones Around the Corps

32 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

Milestones Around the Corps! 

Submit your achievements to natalie.morehouse@navy.mil

LN1(SCW) Dana Martinez was 

selected as the Naval Legal Service 

Command Sailor of the Quarter for 

the period of April-June 2011. LN1 

Martinez is attached to Region Legal 

Service Office Northwest, where 

she is assigned as the leading petty 

officer for the Command Services and 

Military Justice Departments. She 

leads two departments in providing 

legal services to 63 tenant commands, 

and provides daily paralegal support 

to six attorneys. During the quarter, 

LN1 Martinez assumed responsibility 

for 13 high visibility, legally complex 

cases and provided spot-on legal 

expertise. 

RDML James W. Crawford III

was selected for appointment as Commander, Rule of Law Field ForceAfghanistan/NATO Rule of Law 

Field Support Mission. Rule of Law 

Field Force-Afghanistan is an Afghan, 

civil-military and coalition unity of 

effort to promote the legitimacy of 

the Afghan government. The NATO 

Rule of Law Field Support Mission 

is aimed at enhancing Afghanistan’s 

judicial capacity, alternative dispute 

resolution fora and the Rule of Law. 

LN1 John McBroom received the 

2011 Roy Wilkins Renown Service 

Award from the National Association 

for the Advancement of Colored 

People. This award recognizes service 

members and DoD civilian employees 

who have distinguished themselves 

by making a significant contribution 

to the country in the area of civil/

human rights, race relations, equal 

opportunity, affirmative action, human 

resources, and/or public relations and 

whose conduct supports the core 

values of the Navy. The award was 

presented at the 37th Armed Services 

and Veterans Affairs Military Awards 

Dinner in July.

Lieutenants Gregory Morison, 

Daniel LaPenta, Benjamin VoceGardner, and Toren Mushovic

were admitted to the Supreme Court 

of the United States. Chief Judge 

of the Department of the Navy 

CAPT Daniel O’Toole moved for 

their admission in open court, which 

was granted by Chief Justice John 

Roberts. Following their admission, 

they had front row seats for the last 

oral argument of the term centered on 

an freedom of speech issue. 

LN2 Justin Wiser was selected 

as Region Legal Service Office MidAtlantic Sailor of the Year for 2010. 

LN2 Wiser is currently assigned to 

the Command Services office at Joint 

Expeditionary Base Little Creek Fort 

Story. 

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. 

Gary Roughead presented CDR 

David Dow with his master’s diploma 

in Homeland Security Studies from 

the Naval Postgraduate School Center 

for Homeland Defense and Security, 

Monterey, Calif., March 2011. 

LN1(SW/AW) Stacey Mincey of 

Commander, Submarine Group Seven 

was awarded Submarine Force U.S. 

Pacific Fleet’s Shore Sailor of the 

Year during a luncheon at Naval Base 

Point Loma.

LT Tim Bergstrom of the Naval 

Legal Service Office Northwest 

Whidbey Island branch office received 

the Junior Officer of the Year Award 

from CAPT Robert Johnson for all 

his hard work and dedication. LT 

Bergstrom is currently the assistant 

command judge advocate onboard the 

USS Ronald Reagan. 

Navy Reserve Region Legal Service Office Japan was awarded the 

2010 Gilbert Cup. The Gilbert Cup is 

awarded annually to the Navy Reserve 

JAG Corps unit adjudged to be the 

best law unit in the nation. Deputy 

Judge Advocate Reserve Affairs and 

Operations RADM Steven Talson, 

presented the award to CAPT Bradley 

Cordts, Reserve Region Legal Service 

Office Japan's commanding officer at 

this year’s reserve Commanding Officers’ Conference in New Orleans, La. 

CDR Aaron Rugh is this year’s 

top graduate of the Trial Judge 

Course, at the Army Judge Advocate 

General School, in Charlottesville, 

Va. This is the first year that a Navy 

judge advocate was the top graduate. 

LT Janelle Kuroda was awarded 

the 2011 Federal Asian Pacific American Council Meritorious Service 

Award and was one of eight U.S.-

Japan Council ITO-EN Leadership 

Development Program recipients. LT 

Kuroda upheld the Navy's commitment to diversity by encouraging and 

supporting minorities and women in 

the uniformed lawyer and the civilian 

paralegal Federal sectors. 

LT Eric Nelson was awarded the 

ABA Outstanding Young Military 

Service Lawyer Award. LT Nelson 

delivered premier legal support to 

hundreds of Sailors, their families, 

and retired personnel as a legal assistance attorney and defense counsel 

in Groton, Conn. A true leader, LT 

Nelson volunteered for and successfully served a six-month individual 

augmentee deployment to Baghdad, 

Iraq. He assisted in the creation of a 

system to respond to high-level Iraqi 

allegations of Security Agreement 

violations. 

LCDR Cheryl Ausband and LCDR 

Jaime Giarraputo were awarded the 

Federal Bar Association’s 2011 Younger 

Federal Lawyer Award. This award is 

presented annually to five attorneys 

employed by the federal government 

for professional achievement. 

CDR Lisa Sullivan was awarded 

ABA Standing Committee on Armed 

Forces Law Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate Award. 

Her dedication, vision, and commitment led her to be a role model to 
Milestones Around the Corps

jag.navy.mil 33

judge advocates everywhere. A con-

scientious and dedicated professional, 

she consistently performed superbly in 

the most challenging position the JAG 

Corps offers. A versatile and effective 

leader, she also excelled in leadership 

positions, culminating with her success 

as the executive officer of the Naval 

Justice School. 

Each year west coast Reserve judge 

advocates met at Naval Base Point 

Loma for the annual Navy Reserve Law 

Program Military Law Training Sym-

posium. The annual conference, pro-

vides west coast judge advocates with 

important updates on military law and 

reserve law community issues. Addi-

tionally, The Hugh Howell Awards are 

presented to the past year’s outstanding 

active command, Reserve command, 

junior officer, and senior officer. This 

year’s winner for outstanding active 

duty command was Region Legal Service Office, Hawaii. Navy Reserve 

Region Legal Service Office, Mid-

west won the award for the outstand-

ing reserve duty command. LCDR 

Kristen McCarthy (Junior Officer 

Hugh Howell Award) and CAPT Jay 

Sullivan (Senior Officer Hugh Howell RADM Joseph Kilkenny, Commander, Naval 

Education Training Command, awarded 

Naval Justice School with a Education 

and Training Excellence Award, find-

ing that the Naval Justice School 

epitomizes the highest degree 

of training excellence found 

throughout the Naval Educa-

tion Training Command.

Each year, this award is 

given out in order to recognize 

training activities which dem-

onstrate “superior accomplish-

ment” in ensuring fleet readiness 

and accomplishment, enhancing 

professional and personal growth 

and development, and enabling lifelong learning. The Naval Justice School 

showed its commitment to this vision by cre-

NJS wins training excellence award

ating, updating and changing courses to meet the 

needs of the Navy, creating new curriculums 

for legalmen ensuring mission accom-

plishment, and enhancing cooperation 

with judge advocate components in 

other services through joint legal 

education. In this environment 

of necessary cost efficiency, 

Naval Justice School has also 

created more online opportu-

nities for judge advocates and 

legalmen alike to continue their 

legal education and training to 

better serve their clients through-

out the fleet by creating a distance 

learning curriculum using Defense 

Connect Online and providing Lex-

isNexis Training Modules for continued 

professional development. 

Award) took home the honors for the 

outstanding reserve judge advocates. 

RADM Nanette DeRenzi presented 

CAPT Karen Fischer-Anderson the 

Legion of Merit Award for her numer-

ous efforts and achievements, as com-

manding officer of Naval Legal Service Office Southeast. CAPT FischerAnderson took command of Naval Legal Service Office Southeast in 2009, 

where her leadership was instrumental 

in guiding the office through the De-

fense Command Pilot and in the pro-

viding of top-notch legal services to the 

third largest fleet concentration center 

in the world. Currently, CAPT Fisch-

er-Anderson is serving as the first dep-

uty commander, Naval Legal Service 

Office. CDR Laurin Eskridge relieved 

CDR Andrew House from command 

of Naval Legal Service Office Central 

on in July. The ceremony was held at 

the National Museum of Naval Avia-

tion in Pensacola, Fla. RADM Na-

nette DeRenzi attended as the guest of 

honor and guest speaker. 

LNCS(SW/AW) Terry Primm was 

awarded the Joint Service Achievement 

Medal at the International Security As-

sistance Force Legal Advisor’s Office 

in September. The medal was award-

ed for LNCS Primm’s expert guid-

ance and assistance to the investigat-

ing officer during an investigation of 

a highly visible mass-casualty event. 

CDR Johnny M. Nilsen, deputy legal 

advisor to Commander, International 

Security Assistance Force presented 

the award on behalf of MG Timothy 

P. McHale. 

CAPT Mike Quinn, assistant judge 

advocate general for civil law, reen-

listed LN1 Mica Cowan, a paralegal 

at the Office of Military Commis-

sion, at the African-American Civil 

War Museum in Washington, DC. 

She was joined by her family, friends 

and extended military family for the 

occasion.

LT Darlene Shubatt was pre-

sented with the Meritorious Service 

Medal on in July, recognizing her six 

years of accomplishments in Code 

63, where her responsibilities in-

cluded oversight of Navy Family Ac-

countability and Assessment System, 

Continuity of Operations and JAG 

Corps support for the Navy Opera-

tions Center. 
Photos From The Fleet 

34 JAG Magazine - 2011 II

LT Jesse Adams meets with Senator and Air Force judge advocate Lindsey Graham in Afghanistan. LT Adams is currently serving as the Military 

Executive Assistant for U.S. Central Command - Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-435. 

Members of the USS Carl Vinson legal team at the USS Arizona memorial, left to right: LT Jared Hernandez, 

LN3 Marta Motyl, LN1 Christopher Salinas, AN Nicholas Canete, LN2 Raymond Alamo, LCDR Mitchell 

Eisenberg. USS Carl Vinson is returning to their homeport of San Diego from a six month deployment to 

the 5th Fleet area of operation.

LT Kristi Anderson visits forward operating base 

in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, following a 

detainee release shura that was held at the Governor’s compound. 
Photos From The Fleet 

jag.navy.mil 35

LT Audrey Koecher, staff judge advocate for Continuing Promise 2011, talks with Guatemalan children during a "Give a Kid a Backpack" community service 

event at Escuela Republica de Japon. Continuing Promise is a five-month humanitarian assistance mission to the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Members of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps gathered for a picture with their fellow service 

members from Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-435. Task Force-435, in partnership with the 

Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and U.S. interagency and international partners, 

conducts detention, corrections, judicial sector and biometrics operations.

LTJG Jacob Meusch, Naval Legal Service Office 

Mid-Atlantic, received the Burton Award for Distinguished Writing at the Library of Congress. The 

12th Annual Burton Awards were presented, in association with the Library of Congress. 
Office of the Judge Advocate General

Public Affairs Office

1322 Patterson Ave., SE, Suite 3000

Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066

LN1 Ronald Alexander, left, and IT1 Dewayne 

Poole play jump rope during a community service 

project at the Holy Family Home Orphanage in 

Osaka, Japan. Sailors assigned to the U.S. 7th 

Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) and 

embarked U.S. 7th Fleet staff volunteered their 

time to help cleanup the home and play with the 

children.