I was notified in 2012 of my assignment as Chief of the Judge Advocate Recruiting Office (JARO). I wondered how my prior military service prepared me for the assignment. Although I served as a field screening officer (FSO) many years earlier, I guessed I knew little about how the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps actually recruited and appointed new judge advocates.

News & Notes 2020 Issue 3

Right now, there is a law student out there—one who is driven to succeed and to serve a higher calling, but wondering where to begin. Throughout his or her life, this student has been a leader—perhaps in sports, in school, or among peers. He or she is a trusted confidant, a loyal teammate, a problem solver, and creative thinker who listens intently, communicates clearly, and radiates calm in stressful situations.

The Bat Cave, John [Prendergast] explained to me, is inside each of our heads—either a place of great stillness, or, on other occasions, a place where bats fly around, flapping their wings in sometimes frantic ways. Being ‘in the Bat Cave’ thereby became our shorthand for times when self-doubt was intruding

For the first time in Regimental history, there are two female First Sergeants (1SGs) at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS): 1SG Cierra J. Caldwell at the Student Detachment and 1SG Charlene M. Crisp at the Noncommissioned Officer Academy (NCOA).

While virtually all men, women, and children living in the United States have ancestors who immigrated here, an unusual coincidence has brought five American women with Korean ancestry to The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS).

You are driving to physical training (PT) early in the morning when the Special Victim Counsel (SVC) duty phone rings. It’s an old-style flip phone with a ringtone that you now, after serving as the sole installation SVC for almost a year, hear in your dreams. You pick up the phone: “Special Victim Counsel, this is Captain (CPT) Schwennsen.”

Henry V, the popular and enduring historical play composed by William Shakespeare centuries ago, portrays King Henry V’s campaign of 1415 to (re)take France for the English monarchy, culminating in the battle at Agincourt. Henry claimed France by the “law of nature and of nations.” The historical Henry V was one of England’s last “soldier kings” in the tradition of his predecessors, Edward III and the Black Prince, both of whom had campaigned successfully in France.

When applying to the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, I did my homework: researched online, read all the material I could find, and spoke with current and former judge advocates (JAs). Those JAs provided valuable feedback about what it was like to practice military law and be an officer and Soldier in the Army.

On 6 November 2014, the Army republished Army Regulation (AR) 600-20, Army Command Policy. As part of the revision to the regulation, the provisions governing relationships between Soldiers of different grades was updated, specifically prohibiting certain relationships between noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and junior enlisted Soldiers based on their status.

An Army Reserve doctor calls the time of death for yet another novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient at the Lincoln Family Hospital in the Bronx. Down the hall, the notification to the family of their loved one’s passing does not go well.

Recruiting is critical to ensure the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps remains strong and attracts the best candidates. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Outreach Program is a pivotal part of this enduring effort.

For military practitioners, the Supreme Court case of Greer v. Spock has become an important decision, standing for the proposition that installation commanders have inherent authority to limit certain types of speech that occurs on military installations because “the business of military installations [is] to train soldiers, not to provide a public forum.”

We need a system that is part of the Army to permit the administration of justice within a combat zone, and to permit our constitution and American legal principles to follow our servicemen wherever they are deployed. Such a system allows us to enter into agreements with foreign governments so that American servicemen accused of civilian-type crimes in foreign countries may be tried according to American rather than foreign principles of law.

On 25 August 2015, the U.S. Army selected the Oshkosh Corporation for award of a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract, valued at approximately $6.7 billion, for 16,901 vehicles under the auspices of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Program.

Closing Argument: Your Corps, Your Career

Judicial discretion indicates a necessity for denying its application to a situation not considered by its framers, and wholly unrelated to the reasons for its creation.