On today’s podcast, we have an interview with three recent graduates of the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course: First Lieutenant Briana Kolota; First Lieutenant Asia Buss; and First Lieutenant Mandi Ford. MAJ Wellemeyer and MAJ Coffey had the opportunity to sit down with them to discuss what made them choose the JAG Corps, their commissioning sources, and their experiences in the application process, the Direct Commission Officer Course, and at the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course.

Due to the episode’s length, it is divided into two parts. In part one, MAJ Wellemeyer and I discuss with them such topics as: why they chose the Army JAG Corps, their commissioning sources, JAG Corps internships, their experiences with the application, accession, and assignment process, and preparing for and reporting to the Direct Commission Officer Course.

Part two covers their experiences at the Direct Commission Officer Course, the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course, the advice they would give future applicants, and what they think the JAG Corps can do to improve the application and accession process.

Below is a timeline of some of the subject-areas discussed during the episode, along with hyperlinks to further information and resources:

Part One
00:00 Episode Introduction
01:14 Why They Chose the JAG Corps and Commissioning Sources
01:23 ROTC Educational Delay
01:52 ROTC in Law School
06:33 Direct Commission
07:33 JAG Corps Internships
10:23 The Application process
10:30 Field Screening Interview
12:59 JAG Corps
14:02 The Accession Process
15:00 The Medical Screening Process
15:48 Duty Station Assignment
17:14 Preparing for the Direct Commission Officer Course
19:02 Reporting to Fort Benning
19:48 Preparing for Army physical fitness standards
21:04 End of Part One
For more information related to FCD you can follow us on Twitter @jagfcd or by visiting our webpage. If you have recommendations or suggestions about future topics or guests, please send us an email, or you can leave us a comment by signing in below. Finally, if you like what you hear, please leave us a review on iTunes and subscribe to "Battlefield Next" on your favorite podcast app. While this is a podcast created by US Army Judge Advocates from Future Concepts Directorate, our goal is to reach other judge advocates and lawyers across the DoD, law students, and members of academia. Your reviews help make this possible.
For more information about the US Army JAG Corps, you can go here. If you’re interested in joining the Army JAG Corps, you can get more information by contacting the Judge Advocate Recruiting Office (JARO) or by visiting their webpage.
*Music by Joseph McDade
**The views expressed on the podcast are the views of the participants and do not necessarily represent those of The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, the Army, the Department of Defense, or any other agency of the US Government.