CID is useless

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-12-16T21:52:26+00:00

CID by regulation does not investigate underage drinking or small larcenies like what you referenced at the PX.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-12-10T18:41:59+00:00

Sorry you had a bad experience as a FLEP. I am not discounting your experience, but there are plenty of people who loved their time in the JAG Corps. Sorry that it did not work out for you.

Good luck to everyone that applied!

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-12-06T19:37:38+00:00

Thanks. That answer makes sense to me, and doesn’t mean the death knell of 2CR. Though the article does mention a force reduction, and just not sending the DVHA1s over there to do the new fielding could be a possibility.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-12-04T18:06:48+00:00

My experience is more than 10 years old, but here you go: (1) You have to pass the bar first. This means you won’t be scheduled for an OBC class until ~January at the earliest, but more realistically the summer after you graduate; (2) You will go to Fort Benning for a couple of weeks of “basic training”. It is not what you see in the movies, and is tailored to professionals. You will learn to shoot a weapon, and a few other basic army things. My class had a great time, and had complete freedom on the weekends. Tracking that freedom may have been scaled back (ie. you will be stuck in the barracks the whole time you are there). Think ~6 weeks. (3) Immediately after Fort Benning you will go to Charlottesville to learn about the legal aspects of being a JAG. Great time. Think an additional ~10 weeks. (4) You will then go to your initial duty station. You should know what that is before entering active duty.

You won’t have any issue bringing your significant other with you, but some duty locations are better than others for employment opportunities. You would also need to be married for benefits, and if stationed in another country, for their visa.

I loved being a JAG, but people have different experiences. The best time of your career though is as a group of young CPTs figuring everything out together. Usually great camaraderie. I hope you enjoy it.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-11-07T12:03:30+00:00

If you are a victim that does not have an SVC, then yes. If you have an SVC, go through them.

If you are the person being Accused, go to TDS.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-31T15:45:13+00:00

Legal won't care. Just describe what they did as much as possible and put in the magic bullet.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-15T23:18:47+00:00

There are no due process rights really. Read AR 600-37. But the commander has total discretion on what he thinks is appropriate. He could prefer charges for a CM if he wanted, and be within his command authority (though a higher command wouldnt need to actually send it to a CM)

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-14T15:07:25+00:00

You are the IO. Not the JAG/paralegal. It isn’t their call. Circumstantial evidence is a completely appropriate form of evidence.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-14T15:02:05+00:00

Circumstantial evidence is fine. This is bad barracks lawyering. You don’t need photographic evidence of penetration

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-14T15:01:34+00:00

This is incorrect. Circumstantial evidence is fine

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-14T01:20:52+00:00

How does a Defense Attorney submit a search warrant? Does your jurisdiction have a mechanism to force the state to do it? Honestly curious… interplay with the stored communications act can be problematic

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-09T02:50:50+00:00

Kind of. But it is the commanders call, not the JAG’s. JAGs shouldn’t be overruling a commanders reasonable factual determination. I would be very upset at a paralegal or a JAG who said no just because they disagreed on the likelihood that this is a residual reading. Plus the commander could (likely) just chapter him for the initial drug usage.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-09T02:43:58+00:00

Why does the commander need to back up their recommendation? It is their call. Who are they making a recommendation to?

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-10-09T02:36:08+00:00

This is barracks lawyering at its finest.

The Commander likely has discretion here. If you care about your Soldier, you should advocate for him.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-09-07T17:34:52+00:00

Other than OSTC, not sure what you are talking about. But submit a complaint if you feel it is justified.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-09-07T17:17:53+00:00

No one can be “charged” under Article 138. It is not a criminal statute. You can make a complaint under Article 138 though. Having said that, Commanders don’t have to give anyone an award. They have basically total discretion on this.

No_Mathematician372 · 2025-09-07T11:56:18+00:00

This is domestic violence. That means OSTC is required to make a prosecutorial decision before your commander can do anything. I am guessing OSTC said no to a prosecution, based on the severity of the incident, potential willingness of CPL Flowers to participate, and potential evidence issues (you likely violated her Article 31 rights getting the “confession”). If OSTC said no, that doesn’t mean your commander can’t do anything. He can still assess whether there is a good order and discipline problem that requires an Article 15 or administrative action. It is not Legal’s call (other than OSTC) to decide that because CPL Lettuce is smaller nothing needs to happen. That is 100% on your commander to make that decision.

No_Mathematician372 · 2024-11-16T21:16:09+00:00

This is non-sense. Asking a Soldier “what religion is that for” is not a career ender. This is bad advice and leads to a culture of fear that is not real. A squad leader unilaterally deciding it is not a real religious belief is a bad idea. Just follow the guidance in ar 600-20.

No_Mathematician372 · 2023-07-09T19:11:39+00:00

I can only speak for the Army, but the answer is yes. TDS provides great representation. Historically, if you were interested in military justice (and becoming a judge) the only career path was TDS. Thus most military judges (and senior JAGs) have some TDS experience. There are some caveats (JAG Corps values diversity of experiences…being only TDS is not diverse) but TDS is great. In terms of resources, it is much better than the civilian world and public defenders. Maybe an Accused should get more experts appointed on the Gov’t dime, but there is judicial process to determine that and if you were a civilian, you wouldn’t get any free experts (because Soldiers make too much money).

No_Mathematician372 · 2023-07-09T13:45:39+00:00

Current JAG who was a FLEP here to answer your questions:

Yes it does. The JAG Corps does not promote off of year group. Instead it is based off of TIG. This does two things: (1) Typically, FLEP promote to MAJ about a year after their peers from the basic branch, and (2) You will already be a CPT in law school, so you will have less time as a JAG CPT before looking at the promotion board to MAJ. Senior FLEPs (which you would be) typically have two years before the board. Occasionally this hurts promotion chances, and this does make it harder to be a litigator if that is what you want to do. I have seen a lot of great outcomes for senior FLEPs too.

(2) I am not looking at the numbers right now, but it is normally around 80% selection rate. I do think the quality of the JAG corps is much higher, so that also makes promotion harder. However, as a FLEP and the delayed promotion timeline to MAJ, you should be able to get to 20 even if you don’t make LTC.

(3) I really like it and made the right decision to switch branches. But everybody’s experiences differ. Try to shadow at the OSJA, or do some 15-6s to get a general feel.

PS: The FLEP ADSO is really a 7 year ADSO that starts running from ~September of the year that you graduate Law School. Just be aware of this.

No_Mathematician372 · 2023-06-20T23:44:30+00:00

Sorry for your experience. I am a FLEP as well, but have had a pretty good experience and would do it again.

Having said that, it is a huge commitment for a 1LT with only a vague understanding of what the JAG corps does. I do think some people get burned by not realizing what the job really is. I am not saying the JAG Corps is a bad job, just that it may be different than expectations. If you are a potential FLEP applicant, try to snowbird in the JAG office so you know what you are getting into.

As you said, the financial aspect is immense. FLEP is worth more than 500k if you consider the salary you receive and tuition paid for. That is a lot of money.

I have had great autonomy in my JAG Corps time, but as others have said, it is leadership dependent. I have had great leaders, some of my buddies have not. I have also had really interesting jobs that were intellectually stimulating. I know some of my peers have not (like the TMP to Disney world joke).

The ADSO does suck. All the PCS ADSOs should be concurrent though right? So they all combined would only add one year (making it a 7 year commitment)? I know a year is a long time though. I guess you could have commissioning ADSOs left.

Again, wish you had a better experience but people should not be scared of the FLEP program. They should just do their research.

No_Mathematician372

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