What does the JAG Corps do?

  • Published
  • By Maj. Reinholz, Staff Judge Advocate

We sometimes get asked the question “what does JAG do?”  The JAG Corps provides the United States Air Force with all types of legal support.  JAG Corps members assist Air Force organizations with all legal aspects of military operations including:  criminal law, legal assistance, civil and administrative law, labor and employment law, international and operational law, space and cyberspace law, contract and fiscal law, medical law, and environmental law.  JAG Corps officers serve a variety of roles, such as prosecutor, defense counsel, or special victims’ counsel.

 

What legal assistance services are offered at March ARB?

 

There are actually two separate legal offices co-located on the second floor of Building 470 (452 AMW Headquarters), each of which serves different functions and offers different services:

 

452 AMW/JA (UTAs only), as a reserve base/wing legal office, provides legal support in the following practice areas:

 

  • Prosecute criminal misconduct under the Uniform Code of Military Justice

  • Advise commanders of all levels on all legal issues as they arise

  • Provide legal reviews of proposed Air Force actions at the unit/installation level

  • Provide legal assistance to military members and their families

 

452 AMW/JA provides legal assistance to eligible members, retirees, and dependents on every Saturday and Sunday of UTA weekends from 0830 to 1130.  The types of legal assistance provided include wills, powers of attorney, notary, and legal advice on consumer law, family law, USERRA, landlord/tenant law, and immigration law.  The reserve legal office’s legal assistance mission priority is to serve the traditional Air Force reservists during the UTA weekends.  Depending on legal staff availability, other eligible groups (e.g., dependents, retirees, National Guard in Title 10 status, active duty, other service branch members, etc.) may receive legal assistance.   

 

HQ AFRC/JA OL/JA (weekdays only), as part of the MAJCOM legal office, provides legal support in 6 designated core areas :

 

  • Civilian Employment/Labor Law

  • Environmental Law and Real Property Issues

  • Government Procurement/Contracts

  • Court‐martial advice to 4 AF/CC when acting as a Court-Martial Convening Authority

  • JAG Recruiting

  • UCI/IG Support

 

The only support HQ AFRC/JA OL/JA is sanctioned to provide outside of those six core areas is for urgent matters arising between UTA weekends. For those urgent matters, we are permitted to provide assistance subject to our availability, expertise, the critical nature of the advice sought, and the impact of the issue on mission accomplishment. We are also encouraged to be flexible, based on our other priorities, to provide legal assistance as needed to deploying members.

 

HQ AFRC/JA OL/JA also provides notary services and powers of attorney during the week as a service to the base population (including deployers) and as workload from our 6 specified mission areas permits. Our notary/power of attorney hours are 0900-1500, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with a lunch break from 1100-1200.  We also provide wills and general legal advice to deployers who are departing for the theater of operations before the next UTA and would otherwise deploy without being legally prepared, or refer these deployers and other legal assistance seekers to the nearest active duty base legal office when attorney availability is lacking.

 

In addition to the above two legal offices co-located in Building 470, there are also JAG offices associated with the 163d Attack Wing (Air National Guard), 4th Air Force, and the 701st Combat Operations Squadron.  Members assigned to these units may want to consult with their respective JAG offices with questions about what legal support they provide, as well as any legal assistance services offered and hours.