After the JAG Corps: Navigating Your Career Progression

Mike Millios enjoyed his time in the Army, transitioning to the Reserve Component upon separation. It was while in civilian practice that he recognized how the pressures of today's law practice lead to unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Now in Minnesota, Mike has evolved his practice from criminal defense to mediation, and also become a Wellness and Life Coach, assisting other attorneys and communit...

This week, we shift gears a little by talking to an active-duty judge advocate who has made the decision to separate from the Navy and begin her post-military career, which has nothing to do with the law.  LCDR Leslie Stephenson has served for almost 10 years, but has decided to shift colors and will return to school to pursue a completely different line of work.  What that career is, however, req...

Happy Fourth of July! Career military officers approaching retirement have a lot on their plate just to get out of the service as well as finding a second career.  One of the things that is not really considered is whether to pursue an alternative to the Survivor Benefit Plan, which costs the retiree 6.5% of their retirement pay over 30 years and provides the surviving spouse with 55% of the...

Mike Green became the first judge advocate assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in 2000 because Admiral "Skip" Bowman insisted on having a JAG assigned to his staff.  Proving once again that timing is everything in life, Mike was able to leverage his experience at his last assignment to a follow-on career as an attorney at a law firm and then as in-house counsel with a nuclear ene...

Beth Kubala retired from the U.S. Army JAG Corps in January 2015 after almost 22 years of service, becoming the Senior Director of Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families.  In November 2019, she became the Executive Director and Teaching Professor at the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Syracuse University College of Law.  In this episode, Beth explains she took the a bus on...

If Jonathan Goldsmith was the most "The Most Interesting Man in the World" in those Dos Equis beer commercials, then CDR Scott Suozzi, USN,must be the World's Most Interesting Retired JAG.  After a short stint as a civilian mariner on a oil tanker at the age of 16, Scott went onto graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, become and deploy as a Surface Warfare Officer, teach at the Naval Academy,...

Joe Moyer packed a lot into just four years on active duty in the US Navy JAGC Corps, serving as an in-house counsel, appellate counsel, and a year in Afghanistan, where he really got his first consulting experience working as an advisor to Afghan government officials and lawyers on rule of law issues.  He also met and worked with some individuals who would become of his network and who have...

It purely a coincidence that my conversation with COL Walt Foster, USAR, is being released the same week that "Top Gun: Maverick" is released.  The connection is that Walt initially entered military service in 1987 to become a naval aviator, thereby giving credence to the scenario in which Maverick could possibly still be serving over 30 years later. There are differences however as Maverick...

Dan Saumur and I first met as O-4s at the DFAC at Camp Victory, Iraq.  We then had the opportunity to work together again when he was the SJA for U.S. Army South and I was the SJA at JTF-GTMO.  Dan became a very frequent contributor on transition-related matters on LinkedIn as he approached his own retirement and his transition to a post-military career.  In this episode, Dan talks...

Following his retirement from the Navy JAG Corps, Steve Epstein went on to work in ethics for the Navy Office of General Counsel and the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel where he served as the director of its Standard of Conduct Office, before going to work for Price Waterhouse Coopers and Boeing.  I sat down with Steve to talk all things ethics and compliance, a must for anyone thi...

In this episode, we learn about Mark Nevitt's incredible journey from entering the Navy as a line officer flying the venerable S-3 Viking from the USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64) to serving in the Navy JAGC and now as a law school professor following his retirement in 2017 after a 20-year career.  Mark provides some great insight into the different paths to becoming a tenured law school professor,...

John and I served together at Naval Legal Service Office, Mid-Atlantic in the mid-1990s.  A surface warfare officer who transitioned to the JAG Corps via the Legal Education Program, he quickly established himself as a skilled litigator, both as a prosecutor and defense counsel.  Given his great credentials, a line officer, his courtroom skills and because his father had been a career ju...

On February 24, 2022, I had the opportunity of talking to Captain Stu Belt, JAGC, U.S. Navy (Retired), who continues to support and serve the men and women in the Navy as an attorney with the Navy Office of General Counsel (OGC) after a 24 years as a judge advocate.  Stu takes us through his decision to retire, how assisting Military Sealift command with some international law issues while on...

In February, I had a chance to sit down with Colonel Ian Brasure, USMC (Retired), who, after a 30-year military career went onto work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) before taking a job with the Department of Homeland Security.  Our conversation covered his desire to do something different and meaningful and what led him to return to Government Service and why he continues...

In this podcast, we hear from Captain William "Bill" Toti, who served in the Navy for 25 years, including as a CO of a nuclear fast-attack submarine, and in other command positions before moving on to serve in various leadership positions within industry, including as CEO.  Over the course of his career in industry, Bill kept notes on things that were either not taught or taught correctly during t...

As the title states this is part two of our conversation.  A huge thanks to BGen Baker, who was recently sworn in as the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of North Carolina and Butch Bracknell, who retired from the Marine Corps in 2014.  

Proving once again that timing is everything in life, the launch of "After the JAG Corps" occurred just as BGen Baker was retiring from the Marine Corps.  Seeing a comment about the podcast on LinkedIn, General Baker and LtCol Bracknell volunteered to sit down for a virtual conversation about their recent and not-so-recent experiences, offer insights, and "play it forward" to future retiring and s...

When Aimee retired from the Army on December 1, 2021, it not only meant the end of a 21-year career as an officer, but also meant stepping away from the only life she had known since entering the United States Military Academy as a plebe. Long a mental health and resiliency advocate, Aimee talked candidly about the loss of identity that can come with leaving the military after decades of service,...

Ben Whitehouse only spent five years in the Navy JAG Corps, during which time he served as a defense counsel, trial counsel, and staff judge advocate, both overseas and at sea, before moving back to Tennessee where he ended up specializing in insurance regulation before moving onto private practice.  Ben explains how his Navy career prepared him to jump into this field where he found his nich...

I caught up with Tom Jones, who retired from the Navy JAG Corps in December 2019, this past July, explaining how he went from serving as the deputy staff judge advocate at a combatant command to the panhandle of Oklahoma, where he is a now a rancher, lawyer, and holding public officer.  (Spoiler alert: he is not Kevin Costner in Yellowstone.)  Along the way, Tom explains how he had to take the ind...

“Preparation doesn't assure victory, it assures confidence.”  ― Amit Kalantri, 'Wealth Of Words'. Landing your desired job after leaving the military is no different than what we have done while on active duty.  In this episode, I sit down with Mike Wallace, a retired Navy aviator, who, along with some former shipmates, founded Blue Water Advisors, a professional coaching firm, to equip...

In July 2021, I sat down with Captain Todd Huntley (retired) who serves as the Director of the National Security Law Program and Lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center. His road to Georgetown, however, is an interesting one and an example of how our experiences from our JAG Corps careers as well as some great timing are able to benefit us as we look toward the proverbial next chapter.  ...

As you listen to today's podcast, you will discover an individual who had a most unusual career path, including one of the rare instances in which an individual left active duty, affiliated with the Reserves, and later returned to active duty.  As I listened to our conversation multiple times during the editing process, I realized that John's journey in the Navy, in hindsight, was preparing h...

Retired Navy Captain Mike Luken shares his journey of going from the bench as a military judge in Norfolk, Virginia, to become the Program Director, Global Anti-Corruption at Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.  His story underscores the importance of keeping an open mind when considering "the next chapter," how his prior experience as a litigator, staff judge advocate, ethics counsel...

Beau Higgins is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer who since August 2016, has spearheaded Amazon's efforts to hire military veterans and military spouses.  Although not a lawyer, Beau's insight on seeking employment after the military transcends all military occupation specialties.  In this conversation, Beau talks about being prepared when opportunities present themselves, the value an...