Imagine A Future: The Next 25 Years

  • Published
  • By Colonel Shelly Frank
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The Next 25 Years

Imagine a future where legal reviews are created at the touch of a button, motions are auto-generated with Shepardized case law, and virtual reality is used to practice litigation in a live court-martial setting. You put on your smart glasses and legal references, and training appears immediately in vision, while chat bots take over all basic legal assistance inquiries and auto-draft wills and powers of attorney. While this sounds like the stuff of fiction novels (like that portrayed in P.W. Singer and August Cole’s, Ghost Fleet) much of this technology already exists. But are we ready for it?

We asked you to imagine the future JAG Corps on our 100th anniversary in 2049. The response was amazing, as 28 authors answered the call and shared their thoughts of the future. We are excited to share a selection of these writings with you, and hope that these articles ignite your inner futurist to start solving tomorrow’s challenges today.

 

Selected Writings

 
Mr. Ryan Oakley

How AI Saved JA: Transforming the Base Legal Office

by Mr. Ryan Oakley
 

The first is an article written by Mr. Ryan Oakley, a civilian attorney at 12th Force, entitled How AI Saved JA: Transforming the Base Legal Office. This article gives us a glimpse into how artificial intelligence tools will change how we practice law, from office management to military justice.


View How AI Saved JA: Transforming the Base Legal Office.

 
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bowne

100 Years of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps: A Retrospective on the Last Quarter Century

by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bowne
 

The second article, written by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bowne, Staff Judge Advocate, 48th Fighter Wing, entitled 100 Years of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps: A Retrospective on the Last Quarter Century, predicts the decline of military justice as a primary legal domain and the rise of the National Security Law Domain with STEM-versed legal professionals who play a direct role in programming AI systems.

View 100 Years of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps: A Retrospective on the Last Quarter Century

 
Lieutenant Colonel Jason DeSon

The JAG in the Box 2049: AFFORGEN, ACE, and the Future of Air Force Operations Law

by Lieutenant Colonel Jason DeSon
 

Lieutenant Colonel Jason DeSon, Staff Judge Advocate, 23d Wing, writes the third featured article, The JAG in the Box 2049: AFFORGEN, ACE, and the Future of Air Force Operations Law, which walks readers through the revolutionary way in which legal professionals support a “lead wing” preparing for the retaliatory attack of a fictitious rogue nation.

View The JAG in the Box 2049: AFFORGEN, ACE, and the Future of Air Force Operations Law.

 

So, I return to the original question. Are we ready for the future? As an optimist, I would like to say we are ready. We operate in a time when incredible advances in our technology will forever change our future—our lives and our work. Visionary thought, like that expressed by our authors, is a necessary ingredient in our ability to prepare for what lies ahead. If we cannot envision our future and how we want to operate 25 years from now, it will be a difficult challenge to get there. Technology itself is not going to solve our problems. It is the continuous growth mindset, adaptive transformation of our culture and organization, and ability to quickly filter noise and hype from purpose and truth that will enable the JAG Corps to continue to evolve and execute the mission over the next 25 years. Our responsibility to the men and women of the JAG Corps of 2049 is to proactively plan for that future. These articles are a crucial step toward our future.


 

About the Author

 
Colonel Shelly Frank

Colonel Shelly Frank, USAF

(Paralegal Studies Certificate, Pike’s Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, Colorado; B.A., University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota; J.D., William Mitchell College of Law, Saint Paul, Minnesota; LL.M., The George Washington University Washington, D.C.; M.S., National Defense University, Washington, D.C.) is the Director, Inspections and Standardization Directorate, Office of The Judge Advocate General, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
 
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