Our focus in the last 25 years has been on Operational Readiness, Personnel Development and Integration with the Active and Joint Force.
ARC: Fully Integrated in the Fight
Air Reserve Component (ARC) legal professionals are “starters” on the Total Force team with the Regular Air Force (RegAF), charging forward together into the future fight. Crucial changes over the last 25 years brought about this full integration. In the 50th Anniversary edition of The Reporter, the ARC was described as no longer part of the “practice squad on a college football team” where they “were part of the outfit, but there was no place on the bench to seat them.”[1] Rather, in the first 50 years of the ARC, we had arrived at a place where we were in a “symbiotic relationship” with the RegAF in which “neither could function without the other.”[2] The last 25 years has taught us that we need to not only be on the same team, but we need to seamlessly integrate with RegAF. The events of 9/11 were a watershed moment for the ARC. We asked ourselves, “Are we ready to fully integrate into the fight?” The answer was a resounding “Yes.” We understood that we needed to continue to push ourselves to reach the level of seamless integration currently on display around the globe. The result? Our focus in the last 25 years has been on Operational Readiness, Personnel Development, and Integration with the Active and Joint Force Operations.
ARC Operational Readiness
Our challenge as a largely part-time force has always been how to maintain a ready and disciplined force despite not having an opportunity to flex that muscle every day. The ARC took this challenge head on, focusing on operational readiness as military members and legal professionals through continuous support and additional backfill to active-duty offices, robust training programs, and participation in theater exercises.
Across the JAG Corps, members of the ARC provide critical support to active-duty legal offices, units, and commanders. ARC judge advocates and paralegals—including Air National Guard (ANG), Category A Traditional Reservists (TRs), and Category B Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs)—routinely stepped into leadership roles in RegAF legal offices. This integration allows the ARC to provide quality, timely, and relevant legal support to Air Force and joint missions around the globe. In addition to ARC minimum training requirements, the Military Personnel Appropriation (MPA) program provides critical support to active-duty offices at all levels of command while simultaneously refining both ANG and Reserve members’ legal and military readiness. Although the number of MPA days allocated to the JAG Corps fluctuates each year, with some years as high as 33,000 days, the additional training opportunities provided to ARC members by these days is consistent.[3] This includes the Quadrennial Tour training program for higher headquarters assigned IMAs, TRs, and ANG judge advocates and paralegals. This program provides the opportunity for these members to get broadening training by performing duty at active-duty installation-level legal offices and help ARC members support RegAF missions.[4]
Our challenge as a largely part-time force has always been how to maintain a ready and disciplined force despite not having an opportunity to flex that muscle every day.
During the last 25 years, there has also been increased emphasis on advanced training programs. The Annual Survey of the Law continues to be the premier ARC continuing legal education program, now gathering half of all ARC JAG Corps members each year to get training on contemporary military justice and civil law topics, ensuring that all ARC members provide readily available, expert legal support to legal offices and commanders. In 2001, the ANG started the Contemporary Base Issues (CBI) Course, preparing all current and future ANG leaders to work together as a team to identify, analyze, and resolve contemporary base issues.[5] Evidence of the course’s emphasis on integration, ANG commanders are encouraged to attend CBI with their JAGs and paralegals.
In the past 25 years ARC members have participated in numerous theater exercises with RegAF counterparts. One example is ARC participation in Exercise GLOBAL THUNDER, an annual command and control exercise put on by United States Strategic Command, assessing all mission areas, with specific focus on nuclear readiness.[6] Another ARC member served on the Crisis Action Team as a Liaison Officer assisting with 24/7 ops during Exercise POLAR FORCE, a biannual two-week mission readiness exercise to test Agile Combat Employment, where they engineered the coordination of seven squadrons and ensured complete integration with RegAF forces.[7]
This focus on operational readiness at all levels through continuous support and additional backfill to active-duty offices, advanced training programs, and participation in theater exercises has allowed ARC members to be more fully integrated with the RegAF and prepare for the Great Power Competition.
ARC Personnel Development
The ARC also recognized that to be fully integrated with the RegAF, we needed to focus on development of our personnel through recruitment of a diverse force and additional leadership-specific training. In 2011, to expand recruitment of diverse talent, the JAG Corps expanded the acceptance of experienced attorneys with no prior active-duty judge advocate experience.[8] Many of these new accessions have previous military experience in other career fields, and sometimes in other armed services. This program has continued for the last 12 years and provides an alternate path of service while simultaneously capitalizing on significant military and civilian experience. In addition to providing a more diverse ARC force with alternate perspectives, the background and experience these members bring also helps train ARC and RegAF members.
In 2019, in order to better capitalize on ARC talent and more effectively pursue Total Force integration, The Judge Advocate General directed the creation of a new leadership designation for eligible IMA judge advocates and paralegals at installation-level legal offices—the "IMA to the SJA" or "IMA to the LOS.”[9] By formalizing the "IMA to the SJA/LOS" designation and incorporating it into the Reserve assignment process, the JAG Corps prioritized high-caliber IMA support to wing-level offices consistent with the Chief of Staff's initiative to empower wings and squadrons. These ARC leadership positions are critical to support the installation level mission, both in providing essential backfill to their leadership counterparts and in helping to manage the ARC members assigned to the installation. The expectation of full integration by these ARC members ensures that our resources are fully utilized.
Additional training opportunities have focused on distinct groups of ARC members to prepare them for seamless integration and increasing levels of leadership. ARC members now attend Gateway along with our RegAF partners. The Gateway course exposes mid-level judge advocates to a wide range of advanced instruction while participating in realistic exercises to hone leadership, management, and communication skills. The ARC Senior Leadership Course was created in 2017 as a program designed to prepare judge advocates and paralegals to execute their duties as senior ARC leaders in the JAG Corps. ARC JAGs initially partnered with the Center for Character and Leadership Development (CCLD) at the US Air Force Academy to develop and deliver a research-backed curriculum, including topics on leadership and engagement with stakeholders outside the JAG Corps.[10] Subsequent courses also incorporated instruction from Leadership Development Center (LDC) at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. This focus on leadership development at all ARC JAG levels, including leveraging cutting-edge leadership curriculum from the CCLD and LDC, has resulted in a more fully integrated ARC force.
Integration of ARC with the Active and Joint Force
In the last 25 years, the ARC has demonstrated its ability to fully integrate with the RegAF through deployments, training of our RegAF counterparts, and support of domestic operations. The breadth of ARC deployments mirrored RegAF deployments, serving both JAG and paralegal positions at a variety of locations, but also capitalizing on the depth of ARC experience. ARC members stepped up to support the Global War on Terrorism and beyond, filling needed deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bosnia, Djibouti, Honduras, and Columbia. We also offered significant support to the Military Commissions in Guantanamo Bay, reviewing case files, and acting as members of the prosecution and defense teams. In one year alone, 47 ARC judge advocates and paralegals deployed to locations throughout the world, filling almost 17% of the JAG Corps' deployment taskings.[11]
As a testament to ARC members’ dedication to military justice, even in a deployed location, in 2004, ARC JAGs and paralegals were part of the prosecution team of the F-16 fratricide incident that occurred at Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan.[12] The Total Force team was led by Col John Odom and included Col Greg Graf, a former ANG judge advocate and F-16 pilot, who was redesignated as a JAG and recertified for the case, along with CMSgt Betty Sansone, a Senior IMA paralegal. One example of ARC-deployed presence was a member who served in 2012 as both the SJA and Chief of Staff-Pakistan for the Office of the Defense Representative.[13] Another ARC member deployed in 2019 as the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Military Justice in Kuwait.[14] These voluntary deployments by ARC members helped ease the heavy deployment burden on the RegAF.
The ARC has demonstrated its ability to fully integrate with the RegAF through deployments, training of our RegAF counterparts, and support of domestic operations
ARC members also routinely volunteer for extended MPA tours backfilling RegAF offices at the wing, Numbered Air Force, Major Command, and higher headquarter levels. These ARC members serve as Staff Judge Advocates, Deputy Staff Judge Advocates, Division Chiefs, Area Defense Counsel, Law Office Superintendents, NCOICs and Defense Paralegals, often back-filling deployed RegAF counterparts. ARC members also leverage their robust service background to serve as Accident Investigation Boards (AIB) Legal Advisors, ensuring Air Force aerospace accidents are fully investigated, and preserving all available evidence for use in litigation, claims, disciplinary action, and adverse administrative action.
The ARC has played an important role in training our RegAF judge advocates and paralegals by leveraging our extensive background, especially in litigation. Started in 1999, the Training by Reservists in Advocacy and Litigation Skills (TRIALS) team teaches an exciting, hands-on advocacy course to help junior RegAF judge advocates hone their litigation skills.[15] In addition, ARC members deliver curriculum across the Air Force, from training at the International Officer Leadership and Ethics Course at the Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity (NETSAFA) Training Center[16] to contributing at the Air Force Special Investigations Academy by acting as very tough defense counsel—cross examining special agents in mock Article 32 hearings.[17]
The ARC plays a crucial role in supporting domestic operations. When natural disasters strike, ARC judge advocates and paralegals are on the forefront of recovery. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita barreled through the southern states in 2005 causing significant damage to military and civilian locations. “Hurricane” judge advocates and paralegals from the ANG and the reserves served at the Combined Air Operations Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida to provide legal support to the Joint Forces Air Component Commander, planners, operators, and deployed commanders in support of hurricane relief operations.[18] ARC members also served at Joint Task Force Katrina’s Joint Planning Group following the flooding and destruction in New Orleans. In 2017, ARC members served as part of relief operations for hurricanes Harvey and Irma and to 12th Air Force (Air Force South) as part of 24-hour operations augmentation, serving as the eyes and ears at the 612th Air Operations Center.[19] These volunteers dropped everything to help meet the needs of those affected in Texas and Louisiana. The Air Combat Command SJA stated, “At the end of the day, the Total Force JAG team did what JAGs do best, we clarified the boundaries of existing command authorities, sought additional authorities for the Commander to execute missions, guided planning efforts to enable missions within the limits of the Commander’s authorities, identified legal risk, made recommendations, and, ultimately, facilitated operations. I could not be more proud of the teamwork and support we received from across the Total Force team.”[20] In October 2019, Hurricane Michael, a category 5 hurricane, barreled straight towards the Florida panhandle, directly hitting Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. ARC members aided in Tyndall’s recovery, ensuring critical continuity of legal support to the mission while allowing displaced office personnel an orderly return to duty.[21]
Video: Sample COVID-19 Support
ARC legal professionals are there when pandemics attack our homefront. The ANG provided unprecedented support for state-level COVID-19 response with members from all 50 states participating in food distribution, delivering COVID-19 test kits, assisting with collecting samples from drive-through testing, supporting medical assessments and testing site operations, all facilitated by ANG SJA guidance and leadership. The National Guard Bureau Chief commented after the more than 2-year-long ANG mission, that “I’m very proud of the compassion and commitment our Guard members demonstrated throughout the pandemic. Despite significant challenges overseas and at home, the National Guard fulfilled every combatant command deployment and accomplished every mission directed by our nation’s governors.”[22]
ARC members were also integral to Task Force Holloman, which provided for the safety and security of Afghan refugees while they awaited resettlement in the United States. At its height in 2021, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico hosted 4,500 guests supported by 800 RegAF and ARC Airmen, with an ANG JAG serving as one of the Task Force Commander’s Staff Judge Advocates.
Video: Task Force Holloman Support
Charging Forward to the Future Fight
The last 25 years has taught the ARC much about integration with the RegAF and the continual process improvement necessary to ensure we are ready for that integration. We will continue to explore ways to maximize the efficiency of our efforts, applying our resources creatively to provide the greatest utility and value. Through a renewed focus on community, stability, and meaningful service, we are poised to face those challenges like we always do, head on and charging forward.
About the Author
Colonel Kristine Kuenzli, USAF
(B.A., University of California at Davis, Davis, California; J.D., Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, Washington) is the Senior IMA to the Staff Judge Advocate, Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
Edited by: Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Coggin, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan A. Ophardt, Major Allison K.W. Johnson (Editor-in-Chief), Major Victoria H. Clarke and Major Andrew H. Woodbury
Layout by: Thomasa Huffstutler
Endnotes
[1] Michael E. Guillory,
At Last: A brief retrospection on the Air Force Judge Advocate Reserve, 26
The Reporter 29 (1999).
[3] 2018
Annual Report (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2019 at 5. Please note these Annual Reports are in a restricted access repository and require a CAC and access to the JAG Corps’ FLITE page.
[4] 2011
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2011 at 8.
[5] 2013
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2013 at 13.
[6] 2018
Annual Report,
supra note 3 at 17.
[7] 2019
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2019 at 17.
[8] 2011
Annual Report,
supra note 4 at 23.
[9] 2019
Annual Report,
supra note 7 at 13.
[11] 2009
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2009 at 5.
[12] 2004
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2004 at 12.
[13] 2012
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2012 at 22.
[14] 2019
Annual Report,
supra note 7 at 18.
[18] 2005
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2005 at 5.
[19] 2017
Annual Report, (The Judge Advocate General’s Corps Reserve, Washington, D.C.) 2017 at 10.
[20] 2018
Annual Report,
supra note 3 at 20.
[21] 2019
Annual Report,
supra note 4 at 24.