For the Air Force:Connelly wrote:Is there any kind of mapping of # of JA's to locations in any of the branches? For instance, 35 JA's at one post, 3 at another, etc. I'm attempting to compare the likely options in the Army and Air Force.
This thread is one of the best sources of info on this subject on the internet, but it is massive. It would be great if TLS could provide us with a wiki for this that could be updated.
As far as I know, there is no comprehensive list. You can, however, figure it out with a little Wikipedia. Obviously the bases with the highest numbers of personnel will likely have correspondingly large legal offices. As a general rule of thumb, Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command bases are going to have larger base level legal offices (supporting the Wing) than the other Major Commands (MAJCOMs).
One thing to watch out for is the multiple layers of command we have. The smallest command element we support is the Wing, similar to an Army Brigade, headed by an O-6 or occasionally an O-7.
Wings report to Numbered Air Forces (NAFs) headed by a 2-3 Star.
NAFs fall under MAJCOMs based on what mission they preform: Combat, Mobility, Special Operations, Space, etc.
Some bases might have both a Wing and a NAF, or a Wing and a MAJCOM, on the same installation, meaning two distinct legal offices (1 office to support the Wing Commander, 1 officer to support the NAF/MAJCOM commander). So if you see a base with 10,000 + personnel, but a NAF or MAJCOM is there, the base legal office for the Wing may not be too large. An example would be Wright-Patterson, a large base, in which the base legal is medium to small sized (supporting the Wing and ASC) but has a massive amount of senior JAGs at the Material Command HQ.
There are also the odd "Centers" which are the exception to the general rule. These are sort of like NAFs but have highly specialized missions like the Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland (2 star) and the Warfare Center at Nellis (2 star). There are also unusual in that the base legal office supports them. For example, Nellis has 3 Wings (99th, 57th, 58th) on top of the Warfare Center, and the base legal office provides support to all. As a result, it is a large base legal office that normally would not happen in a traditional Wing-NAF setup.
So, back to your original question. Look at the base population and consider if there are several command elements. From there, you should have a good idea. Just for perspective, smaller bases (Space Command for example) might only have 4 JAGs (excluding the SJA and Deputy). Larger bases might have up to 12-15, also excluding SJA/Deputy.