Air Force legal education programs seek applicants

  • Published
  • By Capt. Seth Deam
  • Air Force Flight Test Center Staff Judge Advocate
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Each year the Edwards legal office accepts applications for the Funded Legal Education Program and Excess Leave Program. Both programs offer a means for Air Force officers to attend law school and ultimately become judge advocates. The next application window will run from Jan. 1 through March 1, 2009. 

The Funded Legal Education Program is a paid legal studies program, where participants remain on active duty receiving full pay, allowances and tuition while earning a law degree. Officers who apply for FLEP must have between two and six years total active-duty service including any enlisted time as of the day they begin law school. Completion of FLEP results in a six-year active-duty service commitment. 

The Excess Leave Program is an unpaid legal studies program. Participants pay their own tuition and do not receive pay and allowances or accumulate leave except during internships. However, they continue to accrue time for promotion and retirement purposes and remain eligible for other active-duty benefits such as the Base Exchange, Commissary and medical services. Applicants must have between two and 10 years active-duty service as of the day they begin law school, and must be in the pay grade of O-3 or below as of the first day of law school. Completion of ELP results in a four-year ADSC. 

Both programs require attendance at an American Bar Association approved law school. Upon graduation and admission to practice law before any state's highest court, candidates are eligible for designation as judge advocates. 

Selection for both programs is competitive. To be considered for either of the two programs, applicants must have submitted all application forms, applied to an ABA accredited law school, received their Law School Admission Test results and completed an interview with a Staff Judge Advocate by March 1, 2009. The remaining LSAT test dates are June 16, Oct. 4 and Dec. 6, and require registration approximately one month prior to the test. 

For more information on applying for Funded Legal Education Program or Excess Leave Program, visit the JAG recruiting Web site at www.jagusaf.hq.af.mil or call the AFFTC Legal office at 275-3796.