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Call it Fate, Call it Destiny

Photo By Billie Suttles | 1st Lt. Erica Ronquillo, former California district attorney and now 225th Officer Basic Course student, is pictured at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

“I joined the JAG Corps because I was determined to be a judge advocate,” said 1st Lt. Erica Ronquillo. The Army received me with open arms, despite my age and old joints. The Marine Corps unfortunately has an age cut off.”

Published: 6 NOV 2024

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Coming Back for Seconds

Photo By Billie Suttles | International Military Student Maj. Takumi Yamada poses outside The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. Yamada, 204th Officer Basic Course alum, is currently attending the 73rd Graduate Degree Program.

What do you do if you have always wanted to become a judge advocate, but your military does not even have a JAG Corps? You become one anyway … by any means possible … even if that entails repeatedly training for months on end in a country thousands of miles away.

Published: 23 OCT 2024

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Answering the Call to Serve, From CBRN to Law

Photo By Billie Suttles | 225th Officer Basic Course student Cpt. Jacob Van Horn is pictured outside The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

“It was a very humbling experience to honor veterans who had passed away,” said Cpt. Jacob Van Horn. “There is no other unit in the Army that does what The Old Guard does. We are often the last interaction a Soldier’s family has with the United States [military].”

Published: 09 OCT 2024

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Breaking the Mental Health Stigma

Courtesy Photo | Center for Law and Military Operations Director Lt. Col. Mike Lamphier shares his mental health journey with The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School during a recent Health and Holistic Fitness Leader Development Program lecture. (U.S. Army photo by Jason Wilkerson)

“I sought help, but I waited way too long,” said Lt. Col Mike Lamphier. The Center for Law and Military Operations Director shared his mental health journey with The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School during a recent Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) Leader Development Program. “I have found that when I share my journey there are many out there who are like me but still wear the mask of everything is just fine.”

Published: 16 SEP 2024

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Until There is a Cure

Photo By Billie Suttles | 224th Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Dowlin Howell pictured at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

“When the Army and JAG Corps say that people are the most important asset, they mean it. And they show it,” said 1st Lt. Dowlin Howell.

The 224th Officer Basic Course (OBC) student at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School should know. His 4-year-old daughter Davey was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was just 17 months old. Howell credits the Army for making a parent’s worst nightmare, just a little more manageable.

Published: 8 AUG 2024

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Words of Wisdom Besides Wear Sunscreen

Photo By Billie Suttles | Department of Justice Assistant Director Doug Mickle delivers a lecture on Bid Protests during the 176th Contract Attorneys Course at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

Ladies and gentlemen considering joining the JAG Corps.

“Get involved – stay engaged. To be relevant, you need to be engaged with the organization and be a problem solver. Lawyers are called on by clients to solve problems within the constraints of the law. If you want to be an integral part of the team, don’t just tell your clients what they can’t do – but propose a course of action that achieves the objective that is consistent with the law.”

Published: 18 JULY 2024

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Practice with a Purpose

Courtesy Photo | 224th Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Peter Sabian is pictured in the atrium of The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. (U.S. Army photo by Jason Wilkerson)

“I joined the U.S. Army Reserve because I wanted to challenge myself and make my father proud who pushed me to join for a long time,” said 1st Lt. Peter Sabian. “My father served as a lieutenant in the Soviet Army and Soviet Air Force. He was a tail gunner in spy planes during the Cold War. In 1998, he left for Yugoslavia with the Ukrainian contingent to be a peacekeeper with the United Nations because he knew several languages. He lived in Kosovo for a little more than a year and worked as an interpreter and instructor before he came to the U.S. where he successfully claimed political asylum.”

Published: 09 JULY 2024

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From Enlisted to Officer, Criminal Law All The Way

Criminal Law Associate Professor MAJ Cathy Hartsfield is pictured at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

Tell me you are in the military, without telling me you are in the military. For Florida born, New Jersey raised MAJ Cathy Hartsfield, it might be telling that every one of her four children were born in different states on opposite ends of the nation and even overseas. The associate professor in the Criminal Law Department at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School is herself the daughter of a former ROK (Republic of Korea) Soldier, who immigrated to the U.S.

Published: 20 MAY 2024

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Small but Mighty

Photo By Billie Suttles | 223rd Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Seneca Tsang pictured on the regimental rock in front of The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

“The most rewarding part of the job is helping people as well as showing young women that they too can do … and succeed in traditionally masculine careers,” said 1st Lt. Seneca Tsang. The firefighter who stands at just 5’4” and weighs a buck fifteen returned to Charlottesville to attend the 223rd Officer Basic Course at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School.

Published: 03 MAY 2024

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Everything is Possible

Photo By Billie Suttles | The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School Student Detachment Operations Noncommissioned Officer Staff Sgt. Monnea Slade pictured on left with Sgt. 1st Class Joshua McConnell during her promotion ceremony November 3, 2023. (U.S. Army photo courtesy Timothy Streaty)

“My ultimate goal is to set a standard of excellence and resilience for my daughter,” said Staff Sgt. Monnea Slade. “Showing her that no matter how challenging life becomes, fear should never hinder her aspirations.”

Published: 29 APR 2024

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Running Her Own Race

Photo By Billie Suttles | 223rd Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Kimberly Finnegan is pictured in front of The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

“I had only ever been in cross country, for one season, about 25 years prior,” said 1st Lt. Kimberly Finnegan. “I was the slowest kid. I’m not sure the race was still going on when I finished – unlikely. “

I have now finished close to a hundred races. But I’m still at the back of the pack, I own it.”

Published: 24 APR 2024

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Better Late Than Never

Photo By Billie Suttles | 223rd Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Darin Doak is pictured in the library of The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.

What motivates a lawyer pushing 50 to join the military? It’s rather rare for a seasoned attorney who has built a thriving private practice over the years to voluntarily decide to start right back at the very beginning … placing themselves once again among the rank and file who are most likely in their twenties. “I am here, solely, to serve,” explained 1st Lt. Darin Doak. “Rank, pay, advancement is almost meaningless to me.”

Published: 17 APR 2024

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The One in the Know

Photo By Billie Suttles | Linda Cuffee, The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School's Continuing Legal Education Administrator, (right) and Barbara Wood, Tricare Specialist, (left) sample some entries during the annual TJAGLCS Pi Day Contest on March 14.

Do you know what the state of Rhode Island requires for attorneys to remain attorneys? What about California? How many of the mandatory 20 credit hours for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) can be self-study in the Golden State? Ha! Trick question, California requires 25 credit hours every three years. And in case you were wondering, half of the required hours can be earned through self-study.

Published: 27 MAR 2024

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Nation's first Muslim American Federal Judge on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Photo By Billie Suttles | United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey (and Army JAG Corps alum) the Honorable Zahid N. Quraishi shares his life and experiences with The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School faculty, staff and students for the third annual Gray & Propp-Fowle Lecture on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

A trailblazer returned to his regimental home to deliver the third annual Gray & Propp-Fowle Lecture on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The Honorable Zahid N. Quraishi is a graduate of the 161st Officer Basic Course (OBC). In June 2021, the former judge advocate became the nation’s first Muslim American Article III Judge when he was confirmed as United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey. The son of Pakistani immigrants shared his life and experiences with The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) faculty, staff and students on March 4.

Published: 4 MAR 2024

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Living the American Dream

Photo By Jane Lee | U.S. Army Reserve Officer 1st Lt. Charles Liu is attending The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School's 222nd Officer Basic Course. (U.S. Army photo courtesy of 1st Lt Charles Liu)

“I firmly believe that serving in the U.S. Army is the ultimate way to honor my American dream,” said 1st Lt. Charles Liu.

 

The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School 222nd Officer Basic Course student journeyed a long way in search of that opportunity. An only child due to China’s One-Child Policy, he left behind his parents, the grandparents who practically raised him and everything else he knew when he immigrated from his home of Xinxiang, at the age of 20.

Published: 14 FEB 2024

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For this West Pointer, the Sky is the Limit

Photo By Billie Suttles | The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School 72nd Graduate Course student Maj. Pamela Gaulin is pictured in the Atrium.

“I decided to join the Army after my brother deployed with the Marine Corps,” said The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School 72nd Graduate Course student Maj. Pamela Gaulin. “I was in 6th grade English class when the planes hit the World Trade Center on 9/11. I knew there was a war going on, but until my brother joined the military it felt very distant.”

Published: 30 JAN 2024

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Leading From the Top

Photo By Billie Suttles | The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School Student Detachment Commander Capt. Keith Jaworski, Chief Warrant Officer Appolinaire Kombassere, 1st Sgt. Shamar Purdie and Staff Sgt. Monnea Slade stand at attention during the 221st Officer Basic Course graduation on December 14, 2023. (US Army photo courtesy Billie Suttles)

What does meal after meal after yet another meal of chicken, rice and broccoli plus countless hours grinding away at the gym equal? For The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School Student Detachment 1st Sgt. Shamar Purdie, that kind of dedication and discipline adds up to not only being a better leader but also, count them, three Virginia powerlifting records.

Published: 17 JAN 2024

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Globe Trotting Ivy League Graduate Serves Nation

Photo By Billie Suttles | 222nd Officer Basic Course student 1st Lt. Brett Diehl pictured at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. (U.S. Army photo courtesy Billie Suttles)

“I have a duty to use my abilities in furtherance of something greater than myself,” said California Army National Guard 1st Lt. Brett Diehl. “I view the Army as a chance for me to accomplish that goal.”

Published: 05 JAN 2024

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