A Paralegal's Journey:
From Student to Instructor

Paralegal Career

I joined the Air Force in 2016 after receiving my associate degree in business administration at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida. At twenty years old, I was unsure of what I wanted to do when I “grew up.” As my parents both served in the Air Force, I thought that joining the Air Force might steer me in the right direction. I left for basic training without a confirmed career field, and when it came time to select a job, I chose paralegal primarily because the technical training was short and close to home at Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Alabama.

First Duty Location

While attending paralegal technical training I received my first duty location, Nellis AFB, Nevada. I had never heard of Nellis AFB but soon learned that it was in Las Vegas. As the farthest west I had ever lived was Alabama, Nellis was an exciting new adventure. Nellis AFB was an incredibly busy base that allowed me to become a technical expert far faster than anticipated. I started as a Civil Law Paralegal, where I learned how to manage claims, help clients at the front desk, and draft legal memorandums.

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Professional Growth

My first base allowed me to grow professionally, particularly in an area I feel many of my current students struggle with: public speaking. I struggle being the center of attention in any scenario and the thought of speaking in front of a large group of people terrified me. Because of the base workload, we all had to pitch in for briefings to our commanders and clients. Working in Civil Law, I was required to brief all over base from training reenlistees on the Uniform Code of Military Justice to deployers heading to their missions. As I became more knowledgeable on the subjects I was discussing, the fear of briefing went away.

I ultimately worked my way through every section in the office, ending my time at Nellis AFB as the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Military Justice. As the NCOIC of Military Justice I supervised four paralegals, I worked multiple court-martial cases and hundreds of open investigations, and reviewed all documents that routed out of the section. Because I tracked the latest information on these cases, I attended weekly meetings with the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA), Office of Special Investigations (OSI), and the Base Commander.

Unique Opportunities

Status of Discipline (SOD)

Nellis AFB afforded me unique opportunities that I never imagined I would have. Within my first six months, still feeling brand-new to the job, one afternoon I was approached by my Chief of Military Justice. He told me that I would be briefing the non-judicial punishment statistics at the next Status of Discipline (SOD). SOD is a meeting typically held in the Wing Commander’s conference room and is attended by every commander and first sergeant on Nellis and Creech AFB. To say I felt out of my comfort zone was an understatement, but I studied the material relentlessly. I was the only airman in a conference room filled with Senior Noncommissioned Officers and Field Grade Officers. Standing in the middle of the room, I confidently briefed then-Brigadier General Jeannie Leavitt, Commander, 57th Wing. I left that brief feeling supported by my leadership and my office, that they set me up for success.

Air Force Sergeants Association Convention

Another opportunity I received as a young Airman was to go to an Air Force Sergeants Association convention in San Antonio, Texas with the United States Air Force Warfare Center command chief. While there Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Kaleth Wright, spoke about the future of the Air Force and how each of us plays a role. He discussed the importance of new ideas and how young Airmen have the ability to shape the force. Listening to him and other speak at the conference remotivated me to speak up and provide input in the office.

Legal Office

In addition to these unique opportunities, Nellis AFB was an extremely challenging assignment that allowed me to grow in my skills and confidence. I had the opportunity to work every section of the legal office in-depth and hands-on my first year and half stationed at Nellis AFB. My classmates from Paralegal Apprentice Course (PAC) would often reach out to me for advice and training because they knew I had most likely worked a similar issue. Not only was the Nellis legal office extremely busy but we were responsible for manning the Creech AFB legal office as well with a two-man attorney-paralegal team. I was selected to work the Creech office as a senior airman because of my skill and knowledge in all areas of practice. The paralegal assigned to Creech had to work everything from providing legal assistance, drafting legal reviews, and assisting with non-judicial punishments, discharges, and courts-martial. My leadership saw my potential and entrusted me with tasks far beyond my grade, particularly this role at Creech. However, the most impactful and challenging role I received at Nellis AFB was being the unit training manager.

Unit Training Manager

I received the role as unit training manager after a conversation I had with my Staff Judge Advocate (SJA). She was holding one-on-one meetings with every member of the office to understand our team dynamic and learn our personal goals. When it was my turn, we started out discussing my thoughts of the office and if there was anything I would change. Immediately I thought of our upgrade training program. Since our last Superintendent retired, nobody had run the program. I stated that I would like to see the upgrade training program for the paralegals reworked since it was severely lacking. This is where I learned that if you identify a problem, be prepared to find a solution. My SJA looked at me and said, “Senior Airman Anderson, you would be a great person to fix this.” It was then my responsibility to identify training deficiencies in the office and design a plan to correct them. I had never wanted to be a teacher before and was extremely apprehensive.

As instructed, I took on the project of getting five of my coworkers upgraded to their 5-skill level. I conducted training three times a week with these individuals and documented all tasks in our electronic training system. The trainings I lead consisted of hands-on drafting of documents, walkthrough trainings in our case management systems, and live briefings. After several months of hard work signing off more than 600 training tasks, all five of my coworkers received their 5-level upgrade, enabling them to be tactically proficient in the legal office.

It was through training my coworkers that I discovered I had a love for sharing knowledge. After five years at Nellis AFB, I applied to be an instructor at The Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School (AFJAGS). I firmly believe that it is because of that moment in my SJA’s office, that I am here today doing a job that I love.

Paralegal Instructor

As a paralegal instructor, I have the opportunity to teach and share experiences with the next generation of paralegals. Instructing is so much more than being an expert in your field. Every day you are faced with new challenges, whether it is changing the schedule to accommodate a guest speaker, losing the internet on a test morning, or helping a student through a personal conflict. This is where the job differs from my initial expectations. I expected to come into the classroom and follow a lesson plan, teaching students all that they needed to know. However, instructing is so much more than just getting up and reading from slides.

I’ll never forget the day I had a student with severe test anxiety start to break down during their exam. This student had previously been unsuccessful on a test and was afraid they would get kicked out of the school if it happened again. I approached her desk and just told her to breath with me for a minute. She eventually calmed down and went on to successfully pass the course. It doesn’t seem like much in the moment, but that student has since reached out to thank me for taking the extra time to help them. Often all a student needs is for you to take a calming minute with them or explain a topic in a different way for them to understand.

A catch phrase in my classroom is “I will give you all of the information you require to be successful.” After the second or third week of class students start to laugh when I say this to them. However, it is our job to give the students a solid foundation for everything they will need to be successful in the field. I take great pride in being their first stop in the JAG Corps and I want every student to feel like they got the best start possible. By accommodating the ever-changing needs of students, we ensure that our students are in the best learning environment possible. We also do far more than teach. We are responsible for writing the course curriculum and overseeing publications that go out to the entire Judge Advocate General’s Corps. The law is always changing, and it is our job to ensure that we are providing the most up-to-date information to our students.

Challenge Yourself!

When I am asked if I enjoy working at AFJAGS, the answer is always yes. I appreciate getting to know my students every day and watching them grow more confident in their abilities as a paralegal. Being an instructor comes with challenges like any job. You must be able to change plans when required, perform tasks outside of your comfort zone, and work with students whose personality may differ from your own. Learning these skills have improved my leadership and communication in ways I could never have imagined. My advice to anyone who is thinking about applying to be an instructor is: do it! Challenge yourself with a new job that is going to improve your own knowledge, supervisory skills, and leave an impact on the next generation of legal professionals.

About the Author

Technical Sergeant Sierra N. Anderson

is assigned as the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, Training and Assessments for The Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.