Military Law Forum

[spleenworship]

I understand this person's frustrations. I was selected for AF, told them. About my kidney issues and my recent depression (which I was on meds for) and got the "call us two years after you get off the meds" speech.

[coffee282]

Selected for oct af board (1st time). Feeling incredibly lucky but terrified at the same time. I really hope things come through for everyone else here. I don't feel that my stats (T20 school, AF summer internship 2L year) were particularly better than anyone else. Good luck on the december board you guys!
As far as those of us selected though, does anyone know what happens now? I know you're supposed to get a "packet" but that's about it.

[Puttanesca]

Selected for oct af board (1st time). Feeling incredibly lucky but terrified at the same time. I really hope things come through for everyone else here. I don't feel that my stats (T20 school, AF summer internship 2L year) were particularly better than anyone else. Good luck on the december board you guys!
As far as those of us selected though, does anyone know what happens now? I know you're supposed to get a "packet" but that's about it.

Congrats! After you get your packet, you will start the medical process. There will be instructions in the packet on who to contact to set up your medical interview. Depending on your medical history, it could be a few weeks, or it could be months before you get to MEPS.

[coffee282]

Selected for oct af board (1st time). Feeling incredibly lucky but terrified at the same time. I really hope things come through for everyone else here. I don't feel that my stats (T20 school, AF summer internship 2L year) were particularly better than anyone else. Good luck on the december board you guys!
As far as those of us selected though, does anyone know what happens now? I know you're supposed to get a "packet" but that's about it.

Congrats! After you get your packet, you will start the medical process. There will be instructions in the packet on who to contact to set up your medical interview. Depending on your medical history, it could be a few weeks, or it could be months before you get to MEPS.

Thank you! I had a vision correction surgery done in a foreign nation ... so I'm hoping the waiver-issuing authorities won't make a big deal out of that. Reading all these horror stories about MEPS and people getting DQ'd scares the crap out of me honestly haha. I can't imagine getting what I wanted snatched out of my hands over "trivial"/'manageable" issues.

[afangel804]

I was selected for the Oct. board as well. It was my first time applying, although I applied for the Graduate Law Program during my 1L year and was not selected (bad interview, I believe). As the previous poster noted, my stats are not particularly great in some respects. I am prior service (enlisted AF linguist) with 6 years active duty service and several deployments during that time.

Military service--first in my class at the Defense Language Institute; received academic award from Airman Leadership School (required professional military education course)
Undergrad--University of Nebraska at Omaha, Bachelor of General Studies with focus in CJ, 3.94
LSAT--155
Law school--IU, 3.21; no journal; moot court; managing role of an organization at the law school; criminal law focused courses; Trial Ad
Internships--Office of General Counsel at a DoD agency (1L summer), state prosecutor's office (2L summer & fall externship)
Letters--Current Army Nat'l Guard JAG/chief deputy prosecutor; supervisor from the AF; Former Navy JAG/Advisor to General Counsel from DoD Agency where I interned
Motivational statement--focused on how my experience as an enlisted military member would make me a better AF officer and wrote about my demonstrated interest in public service
Interview--I felt as though my interview went particularly well. Having done real trial work at the prosecutor's office gave me confidence and gave me a lot to talk about. Interview was very casual. I believe it's easier for prior service folks to show our genuine interest in the military and willingness to make the sacrifices required, so that might be one area where non-prior military might want to focus.

[eas123]

(I'm a "she," btw ) RE: keeping records -- an SJA told me once that the "last few applications should still be in the file," so I've always just figured they know everything that I've told them in the past.

Just reapplied for Dec. Board. 3 days from the rejection letter to the next deadline?? Whew! Good luck, folks.

[Puttanesca]

Selected for oct af board (1st time). Feeling incredibly lucky but terrified at the same time. I really hope things come through for everyone else here. I don't feel that my stats (T20 school, AF summer internship 2L year) were particularly better than anyone else. Good luck on the december board you guys!
As far as those of us selected though, does anyone know what happens now? I know you're supposed to get a "packet" but that's about it.

Congrats! After you get your packet, you will start the medical process. There will be instructions in the packet on who to contact to set up your medical interview. Depending on your medical history, it could be a few weeks, or it could be months before you get to MEPS.

Thank you! I had a vision correction surgery done in a foreign nation ... so I'm hoping the waiver-issuing authorities won't make a big deal out of that. Reading all these horror stories about MEPS and people getting DQ'd scares the crap out of me honestly haha. I can't imagine getting what I wanted snatched out of my hands over "trivial"/'manageable" issues.

Since you will need to get medical records for the vision correction surgery, get them now (and get records for any other issues you think you might have after going reading the medical form). It can take a while to get med records, and you want to make sure you can get them to the recruiter as soon as possible so that you can start the MEPS process.

[DEG1989]

Anyone else going to Navy ODS this weekend? The website and a lot of the blogs out there about ODS seem pretty out of date, if there are any Navy JAs that have been through recently and can provide basic tips/packing advice that would be great!

[maxpayne]

Congrats to flyer, coffee, and afangel!!! We are proud of you all. Please update this thread as you start and continue through your journey.

[theinvisiblehand]

Congrats to all selected for the Air Force.

Has anyone been selected for the Navy yet, or does anyone have an idea of when we might hear back?

[TheSpanishMain]

Genuine question, not inter-service trolling:

Why do so many people seem to be singularly focused on the AF? They have some of the most desolate duty stations in the military.

[shintopig]

Genuine question, not inter-service trolling:

Why do so many people seem to be singularly focused on the AF? They have some of the most desolate duty stations in the military.

They (AF) literally just released board results this past Friday. In Dec, when Navy & Army release theirs, I'm sure people'll talk about those.

[MarkfromWI]

Genuine question, not inter-service trolling:

Why do so many people seem to be singularly focused on the AF? They have some of the most desolate duty stations in the military.

I'm sure it's probably a combination of a lot of factors. I'd guess it has a lot to do with the "chair force" reputation and being the closest to civilian life, so it appeals to people who want to do JAG but aren't interested in spending 6 months at Marine TBS or 8 weeks at Army DCC. Or perhaps it's because the AF has more of a generalist approach to its JAGs compared to, for example, the Army which more or less rotates you through subject areas a year at a time (at least that was my understanding of how the Army does it) or the Navy which has contracted out a lot of the practice areas to civilians. Maybe it's the 180 deployments vs. 365s. And I'm sure no one actually expects to get stationed in Enid, OK. Nightmares like that only happen to the other guy...

[coffee282]

Genuine question, not inter-service trolling:

Why do so many people seem to be singularly focused on the AF? They have some of the most desolate duty stations in the military.

They (AF) literally just released board results this past Friday. In Dec, when Navy & Army release theirs, I'm sure people'll talk about those.

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/56155721.jpg

not to make fun of, but, that's what I thought of immediately haha.

[howell]

Genuine question, not inter-service trolling:

Why do so many people seem to be singularly focused on the AF? They have some of the most desolate duty stations in the military.

I'm sure it's probably a combination of a lot of factors. I'd guess it has a lot to do with the "chair force" reputation and being the closest to civilian life, so it appeals to people who want to do JAG but aren't interested in spending 6 months at Marine TBS or 8 weeks at Army DCC. Or perhaps it's because the AF has more of a generalist approach to its JAGs compared to, for example, the Army which more or less rotates you through subject areas a year at a time (at least that was my understanding of how the Army does it) or the Navy which has contracted out a lot of the practice areas to civilians. Maybe it's the 180 deployments vs. 365s. And I'm sure no one actually expects to get stationed in Enid, OK. Nightmares like that only happen to the other guy...

I agree that these influence the decision for a lot of people.

Although the Air Force has some godforsaken locations, there are enough decent options that most people ignore the smaller chance of getting stuck in an igloo in Minot or whatever. And in the AF, we move every 2 years, so in your 4 year commitment, if you draw the short straw for one assignment, they do a good job of getting you something better for your next base.

Plus if you don't know if you want to be stuck on a ship or working with soldiers, then the AF is a pretty clear choice.

[Mista Bojangles]

Accepted to the October AF board, and received welcome packet in the mail. The letter says to notify them "immediately" if I decide not to accept the position. Is the timetable really that tight? I was hoping to have a while (a few weeks, at least) to think over the decision.

[howell]

Accepted to the October AF board, and received welcome packet in the mail. The letter says to notify them "immediately" if I decide not to accept the position. Is the timetable really that tight? I was hoping to have a while (a few weeks, at least) to think over the decision.

I don't know how long they'll wait for a response, but you aren't really "committed" until you take your commissioning oath. Certainly, considering the competitiveness for these positions, if you know you don't want the position, let JAX know ASAP so they can get to the next candidate.

But you still have to go through the whole MEPS process, which will take several weeks or months. If you aren't a member of a bar, you will have to wait for bar results before you actually have a position. So I would suggest moving forward with the rest of the process if you aren't 100% sure.

[lawhaze]

Are other Army AD applicants' application statuses still listed as "Under Completeness Review"? I know this question is asked every year, but I'd like to see what the current situation is.

[MarkfromWI]

Are other Army AD applicants' application statuses still listed as "Under Completeness Review"? I know this question is asked every year, but I'd like to see what the current situation is.

Not AD, but my internship app is currently "pending board decision." Not sure when the status changed, though, because I wasn't really planning on checking the status until mid-December until I saw your post.

[BF0343]

Are other Army AD applicants' application statuses still listed as "Under Completeness Review"? I know this question is asked every year, but I'd like to see what the current situation is.

Don't worry. It will eventually change to "Pending Board Decision."

[UFlaw15]

My Army AD says "Pending Board Decision." How long after the application deadline have the results in the past come out?

[TheSpanishMain]

Any veterans (particularly those still in the IRR) know whether you have to go through MEPS again?

[afangel804]

Any veterans (particularly those still in the IRR) know whether you have to go through MEPS again?

Vet here--out of IRR status in 2012 though. I have to go through MEPS for the AF. However, the officer I interviewed with for the Army said they are not using MEPS; selectees would do something that is more akin to a normal physical instead.

[BF0343]

My Army AD says "Pending Board Decision." How long after the application deadline have the results in the past come out?

It really just depends, but I don't think there's an actual set date. However, they'll usually post updates on the JARO Facebook page. I found out I was accepted a few days before Christmas last year, so I imagine that you'll have to hang tight for at least another month. Best of luck, hang in there!

[shintopig]

So the Army is only doing one board this time around, meaning they're only doing a Fall 2014, board and no Spring 2015 board. (https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/Sites/jaro ... 2D0051278C)

Any prior service, previous applications etc. know what this means as far as acceptance numbers go? Bottom line: Are they going to accept all their JAs (~100-120 I think) for FY14 all in the Fall 2014 board, or are they accepting the usual half (~60-65) for FY14 and but no more afterwards.