JAG Corps announces law school programs

  • Published
  • Air Force Flight Test Center Legal Office
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  

Applications for the Funded Legal Education Program and Excess Leave Program, will be accepted between Jan. 1 through March 1 of 2010. 

           

"Our Air Force missions are constantly changing, and commanders deserve to have access to legal advisors with a broad background of military experiences," said Col. Robin Moro, director of the Judge Advocate General Professional Development Directorate Office at the Pentagon.  "The FLEP and ELP will ensure that we can continue to maintain a corps of officers whose military experience complements their legal training providing commanders with the highest caliber of legal support."

 

The FLEP is a paid legal studies program for active-duty Air Force commissioned officers.  The FLEP is an assignment action, and participants receive full pay, allowances, and tuition. Applicants must have between two and six years of active duty service, either enlisted or commissioned and must be commissioned as an O-3 or below the day law school begins.  The FLEP is subject to tuition limitations, and positions may be limited because of overall funding availability.  The Air Force Institute of Technology establishes the tuition limit, and the Academic Year 2010 is set at about $16,000 per year.

 

"The Judge Advocate General's Corps offers an excellent legal practice, with great clients and incredible variety," Lt. Col. Brad Mitchell, 95th Air Base Wing staff judge advocate. "In addition to prosecuting and defending Airmen in courts-martial, judge advocates routinely participate in nearly every facet of the Air Force mission.  Commanders across the Air Force seek the advice of judge advocates each day in making mission-critical decisions."

 

"Consider how lawyers are involved in one area," Colonel Mitchell added.  "Contract law is key in developing and acquiring weapons systems.  Environmental law is crucial in ensuring availability of airspace and ranges where those systems are tested and operated, while international law is fundamental in consulting with commanders about how those systems are employed in armed conflict."

 

The ELP is an unpaid legal studies program for Air Force officers.  ELP participants do not receive pay and allowances, but remain on active-duty for retirement eligibility and benefits purposes.  ELP applicants must have between two and 10 years active-duty service and must be in the pay grade O-3 or below as of the first day of law school.

 

Both the FLEP and ELP programs require attendance at an American Bar Association accredited law school.  Upon graduation and admission to practice law in the highest court of any state, territory of the United States, or a federal court; candidates are eligible for designation as judge advocates.  To be considered for FLEP or ELP, applicants must have completed all application forms; applied to at least one ABA accredited law school, received their Law School Admissions Test results and completed a Staff Judge Advocate interview by March 1 2010.  Applicants must also provide a letter of conditional release from their current career field. 

 

Applications meet a selection board in early March, and selections are made based on a review of the application package using the "whole person" concept.  AFI 51-101, Judge Advocate Accession Program, Chapters 2 and 3, discuss the FLEP and ELP. 

 

For more information call Capt. Michael O'Brien in the AFFTC Legal Office at 277-4310. For applications, visit http://www.airforce.com/jag or contact Capt. Afsana Ahmed at HQ USAF/JAX afsana.ahmed@pentagon.af.mil or 1-800-JAG-USAF.