JAG Officer Question

lacebolla

lacebolla

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Aug 17, 2020
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Hi everyone! I am stuck in between career choices as an officer in the USAF. I am between looking at being a pilot and being a JAG, which I understand a very different career fields, but both interest me. I will be going on my first flight lesson here tomorrow, and have been learning the basics of flight with my dad, as he was also an officer in the USAF flying C-130s for 12 years.

I wanted to ask about the competitiveness of becoming a JAG officer. I do want to commission through USAFA, with AFROTC being my Plan B (most likely Texas A&M). Also, I know they practice military law, but any other specifics I would greatly appreciate, as I don't know too much. I'm trying to do as much research online right now as I can, but I'd really appreciate anyone's input. Thank you in advance!
 
I enjoyed the show and will tune in for a few minutes occasionally when it pops up on one of the channels.

It is true fiction for sure. JAG HQ is at the Washington Navy Yard and not Falls Church for starters.

On a side note, BUMED is now in Falls Church. They share a big gray building with the medical departments of the other two services with medical. The State Department ran us out of the grand old buildings on D street a few years ago. I was in the grandest of them all. The Old Observatory and my office once belonged to Matthew Maury. The very office in which he wrote his letter of resignation from the USN to President Lincoln. His residence was the east wing of the building. One room had etchings from his children in the old rolled glass.
 
So pretty much y'all are saying that JAG is as accurate of being a JAG in the military as Grey's Anatomy is as real as being a surgeon in a hospital? 🤣
 
rickdunnjr said:
I like these shows and movies about the Navy. Like the one where John Wayne reads Lat, Long. directly from his sextant. Wow, I wish I know how to do that!
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John Wayne skills are on a different plane.
 
lacebolla said:
So pretty much y'all are saying that JAG is as accurate of being a JAG in the military as Grey's Anatomy is as real as being a surgeon in a hospital? 🤣
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Yep. Or NCIS or many others that portray military of professional settings.
 
Capt MJ said:
It’s an excellent comedy. It’s enjoyable in its own way, but whatever you see on the screen, the reality is likely to be 180 degrees out.
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Don't recall JAG as a comedy...unless of course you are referring to two retired Naval Officers watching and laughing at Hollywoods portrayal of life in the Navy.

For OP -- I don't know about USAFA, but the Navy doesn't have a direct path from USNA to Law school/JAG. Navy does have a Law Education Program, where they take a small number of Officers and send them to Law School. It's a great deal if you get it, but is very competitive.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
Don't recall JAG as a comedy...unless of course you are referring to two retired Naval Officers watching and laughing at Hollywoods portrayal of life in the Navy.

For OP -- I don't know about USAFA, but the Navy doesn't have a direct path from USNA to Law school/JAG. Navy does have a Law Education Program, where they take a small number of Officers and send them to Law School. It's a great deal if you get it, but is very competitive.
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I forgot to use the Irony Font when I called JAG a comedy. We always got a good laugh at least once an episode at some absurdity. If I recall correctly, the very first episode set the tone. Then-LT Mac and his trusty sidekick helo’ed onto the carrier in choker whites to conduct an investigation.
 
OP: Can you not pursue both the paths? I mean pilot and then JAG.
My daughter's mentor ALO pursued his dream paths.. first he was a fighter pilot and then got his medical degree. I am not sure if that medical degree was on his dime or AF's.
 
true story: after flight school and before the rag, i was stashed at the recruiting district in Boston for a month (OHRP - officer hometown recruiting program, basically get to hang out at home without burning leave)

anyway, one of the jobs i had was to answer the phone and talk to officer program applicants. one guy called to talk about the JAG program (this was when that show was on the air).

He asked with a straight face "would I go to flight school before or after law school?"
 
rickdunnjr said:
Like the one where John Wayne reads Lat, Long. directly from his sextant. Wow, I wish I know how to do that!
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They only skipped about a half hour of work between the sextant and the solution.
 
Capt MJ said:
Yep. Or NCIS or many others that portray military of professional settings.
Click to expand...


LOL I told my wife the other day that NCIS to be more realistic needs to be 90% focused on determining why an E3 has THC in their system and where they got it from or questioning the ex-spouse/stripper who made allegations of nonsupport. That would be a realistic version for JAG as well.
 
OldRetSWO said:
They only skipped about a half hour of work between the sextant and the solution.
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My recollection is there is an airborne sight reduction form and tables that simplified the process (perhaps at the expense of fine accuracy), so we could work the solution in a minute or so. Besides CelNav at USNA, we were still learning it as part of Nav training in P3s. Never really had to use it with reliable inertials , doppler, and Omega (and at the tail end, GPS), but still had to maintain proficiency by doing a sun shot once a quarter. That was usually done on the deck, but occasionally we'd break out the sextant on long transits and the NFO's onboard would bet a beer on who was closest ! I had one that plotted out on the TACCO scope within 500 yards of our position (or at least system position, as their was always some drift in the aircraft nav system (that was driven by the INS). Good times.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
My recollection is there is an airborne sight reduction form and tables that simplified the process (perhaps at the expense of fine accuracy), so we could work the solution in a minute or so. Besides CelNav at USNA, we were still learning it as part of Nav training in P3s. Never really had to use it with reliable inertials , doppler, and Omega (and at the tail end, GPS), but still had to maintain proficiency by doing a sun shot once a quarter. That was usually done on the deck, but occasionally we'd break out the sextant on long transits and the NFO's onboard would bet a beer on who was closest ! I had one that plotted out on the TACCO scope within 500 yards of our position (or at least system position, as their was always some drift in the aircraft nav system (that was driven by the INS). Good times.
Click to expand...
I used both the regular method and also the Air Tables (HO249) and method during my tour as Ship's Nav. The HO249 was somewhat faster but single digit minutes were not something that anyone I saw could do.
 
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