My Job

Let me tell you all a little about my job.

For anyone who’s seen the television show – do you remember all the people in the background, rushing around the actors, looking really busy? That’s me. Working in the background, getting the job done.

I work as a military paralegal, which 90% of the time, sounds just like what it is. I do some work in courtrooms, assist attorneys in preparing for trial, typing and arranging case files. In the military, there is a system called nonjudicial punishment, or Article 15s, which allow a commander to take money and rank away from a soldier. The commander can also take away spare time, by issueing what is called "Extra Duty." My job with this is to make sure that the commanders are doing the right thing with this process, not abusing it or illegally charging the Soldier.

We assist with getting rid of bad soldiers who do not obey the rules and live by the Army standards. When it becomes evident that keeping a Soldier in the military isn't beneficial to the Army or the Soldier (for example the Soldier uses drugs), or it’s better for the Soldier to be separated from the military (for example if a Soldier is Pregnant or gets a job with the FBI/CIA/Border Patrol), then we, as paralegals, will assist commanders in separating the soldier. Again, we assist with making sure the process is done legally and fairly.

This is a fine line to walk, since both the commander and the soldier think we are out to get them. Commanders will sometimes ask us to create UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) packets (either ART 15 or Court Martial) with insufficient evidence, or ask us to charge soldiers for offenses that are not covered by the UCMJ. In that instance, we, as the commanders advisors, have to have the intestinal fortitude (guts!) to tell the commander no, and to do the right thing.

The soldier, on the other hand, will usually only see one thing; the packet went to JAG (me), I prepared it, and he lost rank, pay, and time. Ouch, since now he/she thinks that I was out for them personally. This just isn't the case. Well, most of the time. LOL.

Now we get into the other 10% of my job, and what I think is the most fun. Military Paralegals deploy to foreign countries with other Soldiers to assist in all manner of things. One of the things I enjoy the most is what we call “Non-Traditional” legal work. This is when you take a paralegal and/or an attorney and they will do work not normally expected. For example, an attorney might go downtown and meet a mayor, and convince them to work with the Chief of Police and Judges, to build a new and improved Judicial System.

Now, for the bad news. It’s been my experience that there are not very many attorneys that look like Catherine Bell. So sad, isn’t it? But such is life. LOL.

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think of my job!