Though most people in the Air Force do everything but sell their firstborn child to become Florida residents for tax purposes, I wasn’t ready to let go of my Idaho residency, even though the tax benefits aren’t quite as good.  Since my wife wasn’t planning on working (other than being a full-time mom), she really didn’t have any desire to switch residency either, but she didn’t have a choice.  She had to pay for a Florida driver’s license and register to vote in Florida, while I didn’t have to do a single thing.

The fact of the matter is, though my wife would be more than happy to spend the rest of her life playing on the sandy beaches of Florida, this quirk in federal law created a lot of unnecessary hassle and expense for military families.  Fortunately, this week Congress finally made some real progress to correct this deficiency by passing the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act.  Click through to read a press release with more details about the current status of the bill.  

Military Spouses Residency Relief Act awaits the President’s approval

Washington, DC –Tuesday, November 3, 2009. A comprehensive military family legislation, the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (S 475 and HR 1182), which will legally recognize military spouses by providing them the option to claim the same state of domicile as their active duty spouse, passed through the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support, and is now being brought before the President to become a law.

The bill was introduced by Congressman John Carter (R-TX), who represents Fort Hood, the largest military installation in the country. “This is fantastic news for our service families worldwide,” says Carter, who has been pushing the legislation for the last three years.

Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the companion bill into the Senate, which passed unanimously in August. The legislation will amend the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA) of 1940 allowing military spouses to share a home state with their spouse, the service member.

Currently, military spouses experience impediments in voting and property ownership as well as deterrents in employment and education. The bill offers fair treatment of the military spouse and improves the quality of life for military families by allowing the stability of a single state of domicile to call home.

Over 8,000 military spouses, friends and family members united to support the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Military-Spouses-Residency-Relief-Act/51457362877 They shared their individual stories as they contacted Congressional representatives to ask for support. Initially, Army Spouse, Rebecca Poynter and Navy Spouse, Joanna Williamson, approached Congressman Carter with their request to petition. “It has been a grass roots effort by thousands of spouses across the country, who have campaigned to get this passed, by telling their stories,” explains Poynter.

“The support from Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and the Veterans Service Organizations who testified in our support is greatly appreciated,” said Williamson, “and together we claim this victory for all military families.”

Servicemember Civil Relief Act links for further reading:

U.S. Armed Forces Legal Assistance

A Judge’s Guide to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Guide

Just in case you were wondering, all you non-tuckers out there (myself included) will have to change your bad habits now that the Air Force has released new PT uniform wear standards [ AFI (Air Force Instruction) 36-2903 governs uniform wear, including PT gear/uniforms].   Read this quick synopsis at Air Force Times, or click through the break to read the entire message.

The good ole' days...

For widest dissemination.

1.   This message replaces the guidance in AFI 36-2903, figure 2.6, and will be incorporated in the update of AFI 36-2903 currently under rewrite.  For purposes of this message, PTU refers to the existing PT uniform items and IPTU refers to the improved PT uniform items that will be available, in limited quantities, later this year.

2.  Effective immediately, individual items that make up the PTU and IPTU are considered uniform items.  Wear is mandatory during physical fitness assessments (pfa) and while participating in organized PT events as designated by the commander.   In addition, if PTU/IPTU items are worn during individual/personal PT, the following guidelines apply (exceptions noted):

A.  Commanders determine the required PTU/IPTU configuration during organized PT events.

B. Reflective belts, reflective armbands, etc. Are required during periods of low light conditions when wearing the optional running shorts as part of the PTU/IPTU.  Reflective belts, armbands, etc are optional when wearing combinations of the standard issue PTU/IPTU items that contain reflective material on the top and bottom garments.

C.  Footwear:  conservative (plain, no bright/loud colors or excessive ornamentation) athletic shoes will be worn.

D.  Socks:  will be white and may have small trademark logos.

E.  PTU/IPTU jacket:  will be zipped at least halfway between the waistband and collar.  Sleeves will end within 1-inch of the wrist.

F.  PTU/IPTU running pants:  waistband will rest at or within two inches of the natural waistline.  Both pant legs will extend below the ankles and will be zipped to within one inch of the bottom.

G.  PTU/IPTU running shorts (with reflective material) and optional IPTU running shorts (without reflective material):  waistband will rest at or within two inches of the natural waistline.

H.  Short-sleeved PTU/IPTU shirt:  will be tucked into shorts or running pants at all times.  Do not remove or cut sleeves.

I.  Optional long-sleeved IPTU shirt:  will be tucked into the PTU/IPTU shorts or running pants at all times.  Do not push up, remove, or cut sleeves.

J.  Optional IPTU sweatshirt:  will extend no lower than 6 inches below the natural waist line.  Do not push up, remove, or cut sleeves.

K.  Appropriate undergarments are required to be worn with all PTU/IPTU combinations.

L.  Spandex:  both short and full length solid black or dark blue spandex may be worn and visible under both the PTU/IPTU and optional running shorts.

M.  Headgear:  installation commanders may authorize wear of a solid black or dark blue baseball/sport cap with the air force symbol or “u.s. Air force” printed/embroidered on the front during organized PT; also authorized during individual PT.  If authorized, caps to be worn outdoors only.  (bandanas and other similar head-scarves/headgear are not authorized unless due to medical waiver condition)

N.  Cold weather accessories:  may be worn outdoors only:

1)  knit watch cap:  will be plain, solid black, dark blue, or sage green without logos (bandanas and other similar head-scarves/headgear are not authorized unless due to medical waiver condition)

2)  gloves:  will be plain, solid black or dark blue without logos.

3)  scarf and earmuffs:  will be solid black or dark blue;   earmuffs may wrap around either the top or rear of the head.

4)  green or black fleece is not authorized to be worn with the PTU/IPTU.

O.  Do not mix/match the current PTU running suit jacket and running suit pants with the IPTU jacket and pants.  All other combinations authorized.

P.  The lining in the PTU/IPTU shorts may be removed, however, do not modify the other PTU/IPTU items such as removal of the sleeves.

Q.  PTU/IPTU items are authorized for wear with conservative civilian/personal attire during individual/personal PT or while off-duty (e.g. PT shirt with personal shorts/pants, PT jacket with personal shirt/pants/shorts, etc.).  No civilian/personal items with offensive wording, graphics or photos are to be worn with the PTU/IPTU items at any time.

R.  Headphones and earphones (iPods, etc.) Are authorized while in the fitness center or on designated running areas unless prohibited by the installation commander.

S.  All personal grooming standards apply while participating in physical fitness activities (refer to AFI 36-2903 table 1.5) with one exception:  long female hair will be secured but may have loose ends; body art (tattoos) and jewelry standards apply (refer to 36-2903 table 2.5).

T.  Proper military customs and courtesies honoring the flag during reveille/retreat will apply (this means coming to full attention and rendering the proper military salute when outdoors).   Saluting due to rank recognition is not required when wearing the PTU.

U.  Exceptions:

1)  for accessions, pme and academic training environments (e.g. USAFA, ROTC, OTS, ASBC, SOS, BMT), commanders (or equivalent) will determine which PT events are organized.  In these environments, students and staff may wear unit-specific PT gear to meet necessary training requirements (e.g. Staff/student distinction, student squadron affiliation, etc.).

2)  wear policy for the PTU/IPTU in a deployed environment can be further defined by the air force forces’ commander specific to  that area of responsibility (AOR).

3.  Installation commanders may temporarily adjust wear policy to address immediate safety or mission/operation concerns, and may be more restrictive with wear policy (e.g., no hats during organized fitness events, no head/ear phones due to safety concerns, etc.) To support unit cohesion and present a standardized image.  However, long-term exceptions to policy must be submitted through MAJCOM to HQ USAFE/A1 for approval.

4.   Questions should be addressed through the proper chain of command.

Richard y. Newton iii
Lieutenant general,usaf
Dcs, manpower

On Wednesday, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2010.  It includes, among other things,  a 3.4% pay raise for active duty personnel, which is half a percentage point less than the increase troops received in 2009.  Certainly not enough money to make you rich, but it’s always nice to get a little bump in basic pay at the beginning of each year.

Here’s a little background info about military pay raises written back in April 2009:

The Obama administration has called for a 2.9 percent increase in basic pay (over 2009 basic pay rates) for military members, effective January 1, 2010.

2.9 percent is the minimum President Obama could have requested under current law, as this percentage would match, but not exceed, average private-sector wage growth.

Under law, each year ’s increase must at least match the private-sector wage growth as measured by the Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index. However, every year for the past several years, Congress has approved a military pay raise slightly larger than that requested by the President, and 2010 is no exception.

Both the House and the Senate has agreed to include a 3.4 percent across-the-board military base pay raise in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act. This makes a 3.4 percent raise (1/2 a percent above President Obama’s request) pretty much a sure thing.

[Source:  About.com:  U.S. Military]

Trust  me, there’s nothing more exciting than getting notified at 2 o’clock in the morning about a domestic dispute (that happened six hours earlier) or receiving word that a brainless airman got arrested at the gate for driving under the influence.  Those phone calls are mostly aggravating, but then there are other times when the calls are more serious.  An airman got killed.  A military aircraft crashed.  It could be any number of things, and they all involve legal issues that require JAG involvement 24 hours a day.

Though I’ve been out of the legal office for a while  and haven’t had the pleasure of taking the on-call JAG phone home every few weeks (I still get woken up while I’m sleeping, just not by a cellphone), I’ve determined that there would be much less griping and complaining about taking the phone home — less hot potato, if you will — if only the legal office would pony up for a phone like the Droid. 

It seems the whole world is going crazy over this phone.

The dilemma I suppose is whether to pony up for the phone myself if the legal office won’t.  Thanks to my sweet wife who broke her smart phone a few months ago, I just might be in the market for an upgrade in a few weeks.  Even with a year left on our current smart phone contracts, this one might be too good to pass up even at the non-contract price. I had seriously been considering buying out of our Verizon contracts just so we could get iPhones, but this changes things.  Why suffer under the AT&T network (at least that’s been my experience with our current JAG phone) when there’s now a perfectly respectable, comparable option with Verizon?  Even though I’m an Apple fan, it seems like a no-brainer. Or does it?

The take no prisoners alive iDon’t commercial

For the curious sorts out there, here’s a comparison chart of the features and cost of owning a smartphone over a two year period.

[via Mashable.com via GigaOm.com]

Posted in JAG Musings, Technology Tagged: cellphone, droid, on-call phone, tech ]]> http://jaglawyer.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/droid-does-the-new-and-improved-on-call-jag-phone/feed/ 0 bc call RADIO TELEPHONE OPERATOR http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/motorola-droid.jpg Comparison chart via mashable.com via gigaom.com http://jaglawyer.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/the-deployed-af-jag-experience/ http://jaglawyer.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/the-deployed-af-jag-experience/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:10:10 +0000 Brian http://jaglawyer.wordpress.com/?p=35 ]]>

Whether they ask it up front or wait for a strategic moment to drop the burning question, all JAG candidates want to know how soon they might expect to deploy and what deployment is like.  As far as how soon, the easy answer:  It depends.  Your mom won’t like that answer, but a lot depends on what service you’re looking at as well as where you end up stationed.  As for the Air Force, I heard I would have at least a couple years before I got my boots dirty.  I ended up at a base that fills a number of deployment slots, so I beat that estimate by a few months.   No big deal.  It’s different for everyone.

As far as what it’s like to spend a summer in the scorching-hot Middle East, here’s an inside look from a friend of mine in the Air Force who wrote about his recent experience as a deployed JAG in Iraq.  And yes,  riding in MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles is lots of fun.

• The trial lawyer’s main job is to EDUCATE the jury.  The jury needs to understand what’s going on in the courtroom and with the case.

This understanding not only helps them decide, but it also keeps them interested, and someone who is interested is much more likely to listen to what it is that you are trying to sell.

[E]ducating the jury entails giving them the material that they need to agree with your position and then advocate on your behalf in the deliberation room.

• Persuade jurors by appealing to “core values” and “core details.”
  Core Values:  Appeal to a sense of compassion, dispassionate order, fairness, objective observation or science, and common sense.  Appealing to core values allows jurors to “reach a verdict in a way that is wholly consistent with their personal beliefs.”Core Details:  The “objective facts that are necessary for the jury to understand your case. Tools that address the core details persuade jurors on an intellectual level.”
• Use simple, everyday concepts to persuade. Teach the jury through simple, familiar, memorable examples and arguments.

No single persuasion tool will satisfy all of your jurors. You need to offer your jury an array of tools. By doing so, you allow different people to come to the same conclusion as to whom should prevail, but you allow them to do so from a variety of different directions.

Final advice for young trial lawyers:

One of the best bits of advice I got was from an older lawyer, who said, “Great lawyers are not afraid to make fools of themselves.” I think what that means is that great lawyers are not afraid of thinking outside the box and doing something different.

Oftentimes, lawyers, particularly young lawyers, do something just because they have observed other lawyers doing it. And it’s not usually the most creative way to do things. Thinking outside the box doesn’t make you look like a fool per se, but it gives you an opportunity to explore options that most lawyers don’t typically consider. The ones who are willing to take a risk are the really good lawyers.

There you have it:  Win your next member trial by doing something bold and different, but also focusing on the core concepts of educating members and using simple, everyday concepts to make persuasive, logical arguments.

Not long ago I received a message from a random person on facebook, not even a friend in fact or person I know, asking a list of questions about my experience in the Air Force JAG Corp.  He must have tracked me down because we went to the same alma mater, but regardless I answered his query in great detail and enjoyed every minute of it.  That was not the first time I answered questions from curious law students or undergrads about my (relatively brief) experience as a JAG, and I suspect it won’t be the last. I love answering these kinds of questions because I love being a military attorney and I love serving in the Air Force.  Now don’t get me wrong, it ain’t all rosy-colored glasses and kool-aid all the time, but for the most part being a JAG provides an enjoyable and unique legal experience that you won’t find anywhere else.

Having joined the JAG Corp without any military background at all, I understand what it’s like to start out from scratch, not knowing a thing about the JAG Corp, not having any military contacts, and not always knowing where to turn for answers. Hence, the creation of this website.   If you stumble upon JAG Lawyer Daily and are curious about what life as a JAG is like, perhaps in some small way this website can help answer your questions.  And if you can’t find the answers, just leave a comment and I’ll do what I can to hook you up with the information or contacts you need.

I’ve been in long enough to know what it’s like to work in a military legal office on a day-to-day basis, talking with commanders and first sergeants, meeting with legal assistance clients, managing a heavy court-martial load, and being an officer all at the same time.  I’m convinced that there are few legal careers out there that expose a new attorney to so many difference experiences and responsibilities.  And if you’re wondering about deployments and stuff like that, been there, done that, I’ll tell you what you need to know.

Beyond providing a forum on the Internet for learning more about JAG as a career-field, JAG Lawyer Daily also provides news, analysis, discussion, tools, and resources for practicing military attorneys.  Though still in its infant stages, I hope you enjoy the website and find the information useful.  Don’t forget, if you have any questions, drop a comment.  You won’t get a better answer anywhere else on the web.