JAG Corps announces law school programs

  • Published
  • By 100th Air Refueling Wing Judge Advocate General office
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  The Air Force is accepting applications for the Funded Legal Education Program and Excess Leave Program are being accepted from Jan. 1 to March 1, 2014. The Air Force determines the number of FLEP and ELP applicants if selects in any academic year based on its needs, but it encourages all interested officers to apply.

"Our Air Force missions are constantly changing and commanders deserve to have access to legal advisors with a broad background of military experiences," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Seth Deam, 100th Air Refueling Wing staff judge advocate. "The FLEP and ELP will ensure we can continue to maintain a corps of officers whose military experience complements their legal training and providing commanders with the highest caliber of legal support."

Air Force JAGs provide more than just legal assistance. In addition to prosecuting and defending clients brought before courts-martial, JAG officers routinely participate in nearly every facet of the Air Force mission. This includes developing and acquiring weapons systems, ensuring availability of airspace and ranges where those systems are tested and operated, consulting with commanders about how those systems are employed in armed conflict and assisting commanders in the day-to-day running of military installations around the world.

"Every facet of every Air Force mission is bound by elements of the law," Deam said.
The FLEP is a paid legal studies program for active-duty Air Force commissioned officers. It is an assignment action, and participants receive full pay, allowances and tuition. FLEP applicants must have between two and six years active-duty service (enlisted or commissioned) and must be in the pay grade of O-3 or below, as of the day they begin law school. The FLEP is subject to tuition limitations, and positions may be limited due to overall funding availability. The Air Force Institute of Technology tuition limit for fiscal 2014 is expected to be set at approximately $16,000 per year.

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

Both the FLEP and ELP require attendance at an American Bar Association-approved 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 (acceptance is not required at the time of application for FLEP/ELP) to at least one ABA-approved law school, received their Law School Admissions Test results and completed a staff judge advocate interview by March 1, 2014, but preferably before Feb. 15, 2014. Officers must also provide a letter of conditional release from their current career field.

A selection board will review applications in early March. The board will make its selections after reviewing each application package using the "whole person" concept.
The AFI 51-101, Judge Advocate Accession Program, Chapters two and three, discusses the FLEP and ELP.

For more information and application materials, visit www.airforce.com/jag; email Deam at seth.deam@us.af.mil or call DSN 238-2028; or email U.S. Air Force Capt. Megan Mallone at megan.mallone@pentagon.af.mil or call commercial at 1-800-JAG-USAF.