Photo By Brandon Honig | Lt. Col. Paul Waldron of the Utah National Guard makes his point during a group...... read more read more
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LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - The law is a “contact sport,” according to Maj. David Lusk, and you need competent, dedicated legal representation to ensure you’re treated fairly in criminal and administrative matters.
That’s why soldiers facing any type of adverse action can receive free advice and counsel – from outside their chain of command – through the Army National Guard Trial Defense Service (TDS).
“We’re going to be there to help them confront the evidence, figure out what’s going on and defend it properly, [or] work out whatever deals we can to help fix the problem,” said Lusk, who is based in San Diego as the senior defense counsel for TDS’ 10-state Pacific region. “A lot of times, it’s not about punishing the soldier; it’s about rehabilitating them, especially with something like AWOL, where if you just start coming to drill, maybe we don’t have to do anything bad to you.”
Lusk said young soldiers sometimes don’t know how to help themselves through fixable situations, like the loss of their job resulting in a lack of transportation to drill. But when TDS gets involved, the soldier and their command often find another solution besides separation or reduction in rank.
“We represent the soldier’s interest, and the soldier’s interest alone … not the command’s,” said Lt. Col. Nelson Van Eck, the chief of TDS, who is based at National Guard Bureau (NGB) headquarters in Virginia. “Soldiers should know they always have a TDS attorney a phone call or an email away.”
Van Eck visited the California National Guard’s Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos in February for an annual training event that brought together 44 legal professionals from the 13 states of TDS’ Pacific and West regions. The presentation and exercise topics ranged from the Army’s Special Victim Counsel program to research tools and the art of cross-examination.
“We share our experiences and knowledge, pool our questions, get some feedback and answers, and get to know each other,” Lusk said.
That last bit, about getting to know your colleagues, is the best part of the regional training meeting, said Sgt. Kristin Marie Anderson Gates, who works for TDS full-time at the Cal Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters in Sacramento. Each state does things a little differently, she said, and it helps to learn things other states have tried, what worked and what didn’t.
Gates said her office will sometimes reach out to NGB when facing a complicated or weird legal issue, and NGB will send out a mass email to all the states.
“Then you start getting pings from all over, like, ‘Yeah, I’ve had something similar, here’s one thing you can do,’” she said. “[Virtually every] issue has happened somewhere before, and someone does know what’s going on. … So it’s nice to network and get to know these people.”
Every state’s TDS needs a little help every now and then, but California is fortunate to have one of the largest, with four full-time personnel and 10 M-day, or part-time, soldiers. And according to Van Eck, the Golden State’s staff is also one of the best.
“California is one of the most experienced, professional and highly trained offices in the country, and they have great leadership, so we rely on them heavily,” the TDS chief said. “They not only host this annual training event, but they’re available to help all the other states in the Pacific region and the West region.”
Though TDS handles both criminal and administrative military proceedings for soldiers, it can’t represent a soldier during criminal proceedings in a civilian court, but it can help. TDS experts can provide free legal advice to the soldier and can work with the soldier’s civilian lawyer.
Covering such a wide range of adverse actions means working for TDS requires a great deal of dedication, and some unpaid hours, Van Eck said.
“Clients’ problems don’t only arise on drill. They arise seven days a week, and we need to be there for them,” he said. “We take our responsibilities seriously and have great passion for our task, because the soldiers who defend America deserve to be defended.”
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2016 19:25 |
| Story ID: | 193465 |
| Location: | LOS ALAMITOS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 398 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Defending those who defend America: Trial Defense Service is a phone call a way, by Brandon Honig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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