Photo By Sgt. Darryl Montgomery | Spc. Kassandra Mudge, a U.S. Army Reserve paralegal Soldier discusses paralegal...... read more read more
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FORT McCOY, Wis. – It’s time for word association, and your word is paralegal. Chances are you begin to think lawyer, courtroom, proceedings, depositions, or judges.
At the Paralegal Warrior Training Course, what develops is a new set of associated words that begin with Soldier, combat, leadership, field training, and hands-on, as Army Reserve paralegal Soldiers engaged in both job specific training and Soldiering skills, here, July 7-21, 2015.
“PWTC is coming up on our third decade in existence,” said Sgt. Maj. Denise Underwood, U.S. Army Reserve Command, Staff Judge Advocate, from Fort Bragg, N.C. “We had paralegals, especially reserve paralegals, that needed training and some paralegals got together and said, ‘Hey, we need to start training ourselves.’”
The humble beginnings of those first paralegal Soldiers getting together has transformed into a high-tempo training environment today, which many still do not know about.
“It's the JAG (Judge Advocate General) Corps’ hidden gem,” said Underwood.
“It's vital for the 21st century paralegal to get this type of training to maintain our paralegal skills. It's a perishable skill, if you don't use it, you lose it,” she said.
Army Reserve paralegal Soldiers, as well as some Army National Guard paralegal Soldiers, started the two-week course with phase one, the familiar setting many would think of when picturing a paralegal student – in a classroom.
“The first portion of the training is our technical proficiency, when we are in the classroom conducting training, and the second half is in the field, because we are Soldiers,” said Underwood.
While the classroom training provided a refresher for the military occupational specific duty of paralegal Soldiers, the second half tested that knowledge in the field, coupled with deployment related combat scenarios that engaged their overall military proficiency.
“This training is neat because it’s a hybrid blend between both tactical training that a typical infantryman would get, as well as the technical proficiency that a professional needs in a garrison or office environment,” said Staff Sgt. Derek Roy, with the 128th Legal Operation Detachment, Nortj Little Rock, Arkansas.
The PWTC planners and instructors made it a point to focus the trainings on situations relevant to actual real-world scenarios.
“The biggest focus is the legal issues they get, are tailored to the Army Reserve component,” said Master Sgt. Stephen W. Minyard, USARC, SJA. “They are tailored to what we see at the USARC JAG office everyday, and in the garrison environment, as well as the feed back we are getting from the units coming back from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait.”
The detailed aspect of the missions was a pleasant surprise for many of the Soldiers involved, even those who recently completed other paralegal training.
“I've been in the military for just under a year now, and finished my AIT (advanced individual training) three months ago,” said Pvt. Kevin Cunningham, with the 154th Legal Operation Detachment, Alexandria, Virginia.
“In AIT, we didn't get any think like this. The legal and tactical side here is more extensive and I feel more prepared,” said Cunningham.
The training the new Soldiers get at AIT is crucial, according to Minyard, but expanded upon at PWTC.
“They are getting legal issues thrown at them from the active component and mobilized reserve Soldiers, that they have to deal with, and that's very different than what they are trained at AIT, where probably 95 percent of it is to support the active component,” Minyard said.
“Paralegal Warrior Training Course is pretty much a must for any paralegal,” Cunningham said.
The words uttered by Cunningham came seconds before the sound of whizzing pyrotechnic explosives landed in the street adjacent to the mock Middle Eastern hotel, recently occupied by the paralegal force in the town, and forced a loud cry of “Incoming!”
The Soldiers, for the third time during the day, found themselves being attack by opposition forces, played by cadre.
In full combat gear, with laser sensor-rigged M16 rifles, the platoon-sized element of Soldiers engaged in security measures, fire-fights, room clearing, and hostage/prisoner of war negotiations with the opposition force.
“It puts them in the mind frame of the Soldiers that are out there, of how hasty that decision can sometimes be made to do something which suddenly violates the Law of War, and you have media attention on it,” Minyard said.
In one particular scenario, a Soldier notionally shot a prisoner of war by accident. That prompted a full investigation and prompted the Soldiers to incorporate their paralegal expertise into the field of battle.
“We made that very a big deal, and kind of painful for the Soldiers to see how painful it is for a unit when something like that happens, that it shouldn't be done,” Minyard said.
The classroom training and refresher became readily evident for the paralegal Soldiers during the field training exercise.
Minyard said, the week before, the Soldiers received a rules of engagement handout establishing the parameters for the field training exercise.
“So then they operate under those rules of engagement, and they see the consequences of what happens when those rules are broken or not followed,” Minyard said.
The importance of the operational mission of a paralegal Soldier, especially in a deployed environment, was highlighted during the training course.
“Many of our paralegals go outside the wire, when they are deployed they are paying these claims missions in dangerous circumstances, so we’ve lost judge advocates and paralegals doing exactly the type of missions we’re training for,” Minyard said.
“It (PWTC) gives them a full spectrum view of the impact of the legal work they are doing out in the field,” Minyard said. “It’s teaching them how to set up an office of the Staff Judge Advocate in an adverse environment.”
Ensuring the Soldiers were fully engaged in the training, and evaluating them along the way, were observer/controllers, who are also experienced paralegal Soldiers.
“As an observer/controller, my fellow observer/controllers and I are looking for the Soldiers to engage their warrior tasks in a tactical environment, while also applying their paralegal skills,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Livernois, Charlie Company, with the 319th Signal Battalion (Expeditionary), Sacramento, California.
The 24-hour field operations conducted over a three-day period, with various attacks from the opposition force, different mission objectives, and lack of sleep, didn’t dampen the Soldiers’ enthusiasm.
“I've noticed a really high level of motivation from these Soldiers,” Livernois said. “They're working together as a team, their learning how to communicate, how to take in the information, digest it, and be able to make great product as far as in the legal area, as well in their tactical decisions.”
“Everyone in the Army is a Soldier first and foremost, no matter if it’s paralegal, mechanic, or driver, they are always a Soldier first and whatever their MOS trained them in, is secondary,” said Spc. Nicholas Daley, with the 7th Legal Operations Detachment, Schenectady, New York.
The PWTC reminded many of that dual nature by the end of the course.
“My perception of this course was, it was going to be laid back, but this has been a really good course and intense. I am beyond impressed,” said Sgt. 1st Class Shakaylor McDaniel, with the 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support), Salt Lake City, Utah.
The learning process was continuous throughout the training, and shared among the paralegal professionals, both new to the military and the career Soldiers.
“You see a combination of older, more seasoned NCOs here that are in a leadership role, developing, guiding, and cultivating through intellectual discussion and tactical training, reinforcing what they know,” Roy said. “With that cross-pollination of information, it yields an outstanding training environment.”
Roy added that if the opportunity presented itself for him to return, he’d be honored to attend.
“This is some of the best Army training I've had in years,” Roy said.
As these Soldiers conducted their combat field training, while handling the responsibilities of a paralegal in a deployed environment, one thing became readily clear – these are Soldiers, paralegal professionals.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2015 07:41 |
| Story ID: | 170821 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 424 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Paralegal Warrior 15 From the Courtroom to the Battlefield, by Brian Godette, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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