Military Law - Navy Jag Student Program Forum

[NAVJAG1]

For those of you who have already commissioned, how long did it take? I read you have more paperwork, height and weight measurements, and then oath. I was curious how long it took? I was wanting my family to come but don't want them to have to wait forever.

I did mine over a lunch hour.

[NAVJAG1]

I have a question for you guys further along in the process. I read that we will need $2,000-$3,000 when we go to ODS to purchase uniforms... A. Is that extremely large number accurate? And B. Where are we supposed to get $3,000 from when we just graduated law school and took bar exam?

They'll actually take payment in blood. $500/qt, but only if you pay all at once.

Honestly, yes, our uniforms will cost a pretty penny, in part because military uniforms are expensive and in part because we have so many different ones that we have to buy the components of (SDBs, SDWs, Summer Whites, Khakis, NWUs, PT). Unless you have that kind of cash lying around (or can borrow it from someone), you'll probably be stuck with doing the STAR Card (which does get you a 10% discount, but it's a brand new revolving credit account on your credit report, not the best for your credit score) and paying it down in the 5th week of training using your pay from the previous four weeks.

I obviously have not been to ODS yet, though, so I can't say with certainty.

I recently finished ODS in May. Yes, that is accurate. My total was around $2,200. You could get away with a bit under $2000 if you choose the cheaper dress blue option, but I went ahead and paid more for the Brooks Brothers because I figured JAGs use it more often than most people so I would get my money out of it.

There is a Star Card and you don't charge it until the final week of ODS. You get $450 uniform allowance pay to help and 10% off if you are opening up a Star card for the first time. Not going to lie, most of your pay from ODS will go towards uniforms.

[cubbies44]

I have a question for you guys further along in the process. I read that we will need $2,000-$3,000 when we go to ODS to purchase uniforms... A. Is that extremely large number accurate? And B. Where are we supposed to get $3,000 from when we just graduated law school and took bar exam?

They'll actually take payment in blood. $500/qt, but only if you pay all at once.

Honestly, yes, our uniforms will cost a pretty penny, in part because military uniforms are expensive and in part because we have so many different ones that we have to buy the components of (SDBs, SDWs, Summer Whites, Khakis, NWUs, PT). Unless you have that kind of cash lying around (or can borrow it from someone), you'll probably be stuck with doing the STAR Card (which does get you a 10% discount, but it's a brand new revolving credit account on your credit report, not the best for your credit score) and paying it down in the 5th week of training using your pay from the previous four weeks.

I obviously have not been to ODS yet, though, so I can't say with certainty.

I recently finished ODS in May. Yes, that is accurate. My total was around $2,200. You could get away with a bit under $2000 if you choose the cheaper dress blue option, but I went ahead and paid more for the Brooks Brothers because I figured JAGs use it more often than most people so I would get my money out of it.

There is a Star Card and you don't charge it until the final week of ODS. You get $450 uniform allowance pay to help and 10% off if you are opening up a Star card for the first time. Not going to lie, most of your pay from ODS will go towards uniforms.

Great, thank you for all the information. That is really helpful. And Congrats on completing ODS!

[Ramrezyeh]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

[cubbies44]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

I have not. I'm assuming you have to be commissioned already to receive it though? I am still waiting so I'm betting that's not an option for me.

[cdemps3]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

Is this common? I am a little stressed about that time period as well.

[cubbies44]

I am currently in this time period and it's awful. No one wants to hire someone who A. doesn't have a license because you're currently studying for the bar, B. are only looking for a couple months of work, and C. again, studying for the bar so basically only want 2-3 days a week.

[lawschoolgirl12345]

How much the lsat score matter in being picked for a Navy jag internship and Navy jag position?

[cubbies44]

How much the lsat score matter in being picked for a Navy jag internship and Navy jag position?

The Navy looks at the "whole person". I personally don't think my LSAT score mattered that much. Unless you scored near perfect or completely bombed it, I don't think it matters that much. There are several other factors that matter more like GPA in law school, volunteer activities, activities that show leadership skills, Moot Court, etc.

[S. Goodman]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

Is this common? I am a little stressed about that time period as well.

I had never heard of this until I read the above post; I've had USAA for years and years. I googled it, and then called USAA about it. It looks like a good deal, it is a unsecured personal loan, up to 25k, at 2.99 interest rate. Needless to say that is a ridiculously low rate on a unsecured loan. You do not need to have any income to qualify, unlike a regular loan. All you need is your oath of office, and orders to active duty (ODS counts) to qualify.

After reading about it, I applied. I've been looking for a debt consolidation option and haven't been able to find one. I got approved over the phone immediately, but I haven't gotten orders yet so I can't finalize the loan until that happens. You can accept less than the 25k if you want, they approve pretty much everyone up to the 25k though.

By the way, the paperwork for ODS finally got sent out! What were you alls base selections? I picked mine out of a hat just for fun! lol Apparently the first ODS class for those taking the Bar this July is Sept. 11th.

[cubbies44]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

Is this common? I am a little stressed about that time period as well.

I had never heard of this until I read the above post; I've had USAA for years and years. I googled it, and then called USAA about it. It looks like a good deal, it is a unsecured personal loan, up to 25k, at 2.99 interest rate. Needless to say that is a ridiculously low rate on a unsecured loan. You do not need to have any income to qualify, unlike a regular loan. All you need is your oath of office, and orders to active duty (ODS counts) to qualify.

After reading about it, I applied. I've been looking for a debt consolidation option and haven't been able to find one. I got approved over the phone immediately, but I haven't gotten orders yet so I can't finalize the loan until that happens. You can accept less than the 25k if you want, they approve pretty much everyone up to the 25k though.

By the way, the paperwork for ODS finally got sent out! What were you alls base selections? I picked mine out of a hat just for fun! lol Apparently the first ODS class for those taking the Bar this July is Sept. 11th.

http://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/Page ... chool.aspx

So we can't go to the one at end of July? I was really wanting to get started immediately.

[Fed_Atty]

Saul,

Glad to see you are almost there - you've done a great job posting on this board and giving a peek behind the curtain. Hopefully you can give a good run down of ODS and NJS as well - seems to be a lot of questions.

[S. Goodman]

http://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/Page ... chool.aspx

So we can't go to the one at end of July? I was really wanting to get started immediately.

I don't think so, but you'd have to call accessions to find out for sure. Your ODS class date is based on when your bar releases results because you must pass the bar to attend NJS. If you went to ODS in July there would be a huge gap between when you went to ODS and when you went to NJS.

[S. Goodman]

Saul,

Glad to see you are almost there - you've done a great job posting on this board and giving a peek behind the curtain. Hopefully you can give a good run down of ODS and NJS as well - seems to be a lot of questions.

Absolutely, no problem at all! I'm going to try and post frequent updates. But that'll depend on how busy things are!

[cubbies44]

http://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/Page ... chool.aspx

So we can't go to the one at end of July? I was really wanting to get started immediately.

I don't think so, but you'd have to call accessions to find out for sure. Your ODS class date is based on when your bar releases results because you must pass the bar to attend NJS. If you went to ODS in July there would be a huge gap between when you went to ODS and when you went to NJS.

My results come out mid September so it would almost be perfect with how long ODS is. I can't find anywhere when NJS is. When I interviewed I think they told me there was one in October but can't find it anywhere. Either way, exciting news!

[S. Goodman]

http://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/Page ... chool.aspx

So we can't go to the one at end of July? I was really wanting to get started immediately.

I don't think so, but you'd have to call accessions to find out for sure. Your ODS class date is based on when your bar releases results because you must pass the bar to attend NJS. If you went to ODS in July there would be a huge gap between when you went to ODS and when you went to NJS.

My results come out mid September so it would almost be perfect with how long ODS is. I can't find anywhere when NJS is. When I interviewed I think they told me there was one in October but can't find it anywhere. Either way, exciting news!

Mine releases around that time too. You're definitely going September 11th. Lol

[cubbies44]

http://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/Page ... chool.aspx

So we can't go to the one at end of July? I was really wanting to get started immediately.

I don't think so, but you'd have to call accessions to find out for sure. Your ODS class date is based on when your bar releases results because you must pass the bar to attend NJS. If you went to ODS in July there would be a huge gap between when you went to ODS and when you went to NJS.

My results come out mid September so it would almost be perfect with how long ODS is. I can't find anywhere when NJS is. When I interviewed I think they told me there was one in October but can't find it anywhere. Either way, exciting news!

Mine releases around that time too. You're definitely going September 11th. Lol

Thank you for information. Hoping to find out soon. Still waiting on security check. Hopefully will be joining you in September!

[20171203]

.

[FrogLaw]

By the way, the paperwork for ODS finally got sent out! What were you alls base selections? I picked mine out of a hat just for fun! lol Apparently the first ODS class for those taking the Bar this July is Sept. 11th.

Has the paperwork for ODS just gone out for the people in the first ODS? Or do you know if they are sending out the paperwork for everyone?

[S. Goodman]

By the way, the paperwork for ODS finally got sent out! What were you alls base selections? I picked mine out of a hat just for fun! lol Apparently the first ODS class for those taking the Bar this July is Sept. 11th.

Has the paperwork for ODS just gone out for the people in the first ODS? Or do you know if they are sending out the paperwork for everyone?

I would guess that if you haven't gotten it then you're slated to go to the second ODS class in October. They emailed a litany of documents, nothing was mailed; so if you haven't received it then that is probably what is going on. I got the email last week. There was a duty preference sheet, updated W4, direct deposit form, dependents form etc. etc. Mostly stuff you did when commissioning, these were just the updated ones.

Or they could have a bad email address down for you. Maybe call to make sure?

[cdemps3]

For those of you who landed unpaid internships, how did you get additional funding for the summer? The school I will be attending gives a $3K (I think) stipend for the summer for non-paid positions, but that definitely won't be enough to cover expenses for 10 weeks. I'll probably need somewhere in the $7,500 range total for summer expenses, and that's assuming I'd be able to land an internship in DC where my school is.

Budget budget budget. I'm on my second unpaid internship in a row right now. In DC, consider subleasing on the metro line somewhere outside of the city, go out less, maybe get a weekend job. It really sucks, but it is possible to make it through.

[Ramrezyeh]

Has anybody here looked into the USAA Career Starter Loan? I was thinking: Bar Study, Down-time between bar and ODS, and Uniform cost.

My commissioning took about an hour as well.

Is this common? I am a little stressed about that time period as well.

I had never heard of this until I read the above post; I've had USAA for years and years. I googled it, and then called USAA about it. It looks like a good deal, it is a unsecured personal loan, up to 25k, at 2.99 interest rate. Needless to say that is a ridiculously low rate on a unsecured loan. You do not need to have any income to qualify, unlike a regular loan. All you need is your oath of office, and orders to active duty (ODS counts) to qualify.

After reading about it, I applied. I've been looking for a debt consolidation option and haven't been able to find one. I got approved over the phone immediately, but I haven't gotten orders yet so I can't finalize the loan until that happens. You can accept less than the 25k if you want, they approve pretty much everyone up to the 25k though.

By the way, the paperwork for ODS finally got sent out! What were you alls base selections? I picked mine out of a hat just for fun! lol Apparently the first ODS class for those taking the Bar this July is Sept. 11th.

I was wondering if I would have to wait until orders were sent. If you haven't received them yet, I imagine trying to use the loan for Bar prep purposes would not be a good idea.

[usn26]

For those of you who landed unpaid internships, how did you get additional funding for the summer? The school I will be attending gives a $3K (I think) stipend for the summer for non-paid positions, but that definitely won't be enough to cover expenses for 10 weeks. I'll probably need somewhere in the $7,500 range total for summer expenses, and that's assuming I'd be able to land an internship in DC where my school is.

I just took a class (you could also do an externship for credit) and got financial aid. Obviously not ideal if you want to keep COA down, but it's an option.

[JAG Hopeful]

Speaking of financials, I swore I read somewhere that JAGs get matching contributions to their 401(k)-like TSP, which is the exception to the rule for military members, as a retention aid. But I thought I'd heard that somewhere. It would be a little disheartening to not have matching contributions as a lawyer, a pretty universal benefit for most in our profession. Can anyone confirm or deny?

[Fed_Atty]

That is not something that is JAG specific. Congress has overhauled the military retirement system. See the following article for a summary

http://paycheck-chronicles.military.com ... /15/10128/

If you elect to go into the new system you can get matching contributions beginning with your 3rd year of service.