U.S. ARMY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL S CORPS ACTIVE DUTY AND ARMY RESERVE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

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1 U.S. ARMY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL S CORPS ACTIVE DUTY AND ARMY RESERVE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS You MUST use the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat software to complete this application. Do not fill out the application by hand. Failure to complete the application using Adobe Acrobat will render your application ineligible for consideration by the selection board. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is available to download for free at If you are using a tablet, you must download the most recent version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader app. Read the following instructions carefully. All responses are required unless the question says optional or it does not apply to you. APPLICATION TYPE Select one of three options. Active Duty only applications will be considered for Active Duty service only. Army Reserve applications will be considered for Army Reserve Service only. Combined Active Duty and Army Reserve applications will be considered for service in both components. Applicants who are unsure which component they would like to serve in should utilize the combined option. There is no preference or penalty given to applicants using the combined application. PERSONAL DATA 1-3. Self-explanatory. Background Information 4. Enter your date of birth in the requested format (MM/DD/YYYY). 5. Self-explanatory. 6. Enter your height in inches only. 7. Enter your weight in pounds only Self-explanatory. 12. Indicate if you previously applied for an Army JAG Corps commission. If you have previously applied, indicate the year and whether your application was for Active Duty or Army Reserve. Your previous application materials will not be considered by the selection board. Contact Information Mailing address where you can be easily reached Self-explanatory. 1

2 Army Reserve Applicants Only 21. If you are applying for Army Reserve service (including combined applicants) and are over the age of 33, you will require an age waiver. Age waivers are processed by JARO using information received from your application. Briefly explain why you have not applied for a commission until now, and whether you will be able to meet the physical demands of military service. You may include in your explanation why you believe your age will not impact your ability to serve as an officer in the Army Reserve. EDUCATION If you begin typing in your educational information and the text is oriented top to bottom instead of left to right, you are not running the most updated version of Adobe Acrobat software. You will need to download the newest version of Adobe Acrobat, then redownload the application from our website and begin again. 22. List the undergraduate institutions you attended beginning with the most recent. If you attended more than 4 schools, list the 4 most recent institutions. Enter the school name, followed by the city and state (two letters) of the institution. List the month a year of attendance. Enter your major, GPA, and the type of degree pursued (Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, etc.). Indicate in the Degree Status column whether the degree is in progress, awarded, or whether you did not receive a degree from the institution. You do not need to list schools where you completed 30 credit hours or less. 23. Follow the procedures in Question 22 (Undergraduate School Information). 24. List the law schools you attended beginning with the school conferring your JD. If you attended more than 2 schools, list the 2 most recent institutions. Do not separately list schools where you were a visiting or study abroad student for only one semester. Select your school name from the dropdown menu, followed by the city and state (two letters) of the law school. List the month a year of attendance. If you are a current student, enter your anticipated date of graduation in the second date column. Enter your GPA. Select your class rank percentile from the dropdown menu. Round down to the next category (e.g. if you are in the top 22%, you should select Top 25% ). Select No Rank only if your school does not provide class rank. Select the type of degree from the dropdown menu. Indicate in the Degree Status column whether the degree is in progress, awarded, or whether you did not receive a degree from the institution. 25. Indicate whether you took the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). If you took the LSAT, provide the highest score achieved. If your law school waived the LSAT requirement, submit an explanation from your law school regarding the waiver as a separate document. 26. Self-explanatory These questions apply to undergraduate, graduate, and/or law school attendance. Please be descriptive, yet succinct. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration. 2

3 LICENSE AND EXPERIENCE 29. Indicate whether you are licensed to practice. If you are licensed, indicate each jurisdiction and the date you passed the bar exam or were admitted to practice (month and year only). If you are licensed in more than 3 jurisdictions, provide information on the 3 jurisdictions where you most often practice. 30. If you have failed 2 or more bar examinations, provide the jurisdictions and the dates of the exams. You may also briefly explain the circumstances surrounding the failures Self-explanatory. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration. MILITARY EXPERIENCE Service Chronology List all military service in chronological order beginning with your most recent assignment location. If you held multiple positions while located in the same location, list those assignments on the same line. Do not list ROTC experience in the service chronology table. Enter the month(s) and year(s) of your service. If you are currently serving, enter the estimated date when your service obligation ends. Indicate which military and component. If you are a Reserve Component member who was mobilized or deployed, list that mobilization or deployment individually. Enter your branch within the military service followed by all jobs held at the same location, then list the unit and location. 34. List the date of rank for each rank you have achieved. 35. If you have been non-selected for promotion, indicate which rank you were non-selected for, and provide the approximate date(s) of the non-selection. 36. If you are a current commissioned officer, indicate whether you are currently in the zone for promotion. If yes, provide information on the date of the board. If you are not currently in the zone for promotion, provide the approximate date when you will be in the zone for promotion. 37. Self-explanatory Self-explanatory. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration. 41. Self-explanatory. 42. Self-explanatory. If you were discharged via a discharge order (and not a DD Form 214), ensure you indicate the reason for discharge specified on that order Self-explanatory. 45. Self-explanatory. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration Self-explanatory. 3

4 ROTC Experience Indicate if you have ANY experience in the ROTC program, regardless of how brief it was. This includes scholarship, non-scholarship, and ROTC Educational Delay officers. 53. Self-explanatory. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration. Military Intern/Extern Program Experience 54. Indicate whether you participated in a U.S. Army JAG Corps Summer Internship. If you participated in both the 1L and 2L internship, provide information for both internships. 55. Indicate whether you participated in another Department of Defense internship, including another service s military summer internship/externship or an Army JAG Corps Externship. CRIMINAL HISTORY 56. This question must be answered by every applicant. Read the question thoroughly to determine if you have responsive information. If you answer yes, you will require a moral waiver. Moral waivers are processed by JARO using information received from your application, and no additional supporting documentation is required. Provide sufficient, yet succinct, information regarding the nature of offense(s), date of offense(s), the court(s), disposition(s), and explanation(s) of the circumstances. For significant offenses, explain what you learned from the experience and/or how it impacted you. Failure to disclose information could result in your application being removed from consideration. FIELD SCREENING OFFICER S INTERVIEW Enter the name of the Field Screening Officer (FSO) you interviewed with or plan to interview with, and the date and location of the interview. An in-person interview with an FSO must be obtained in the 12 months preceding the application deadline. Select JAG Corps officers have been designated as FSOs for this purpose. Prior internship interviews are not sufficient for Active Duty or Army Reserve applications. Active Duty and Combined Active Duty and Army Reserve Applicants Active Duty FSOs visit all ABA-accredited law schools only once a year to conduct interviews with prospective applicants, with the majority of visits occurring in September. Applicants who are in law school should set up their interview through their school's career services office (CSO) following the on campus interview (OCI) protocol for scheduling an interview. If the FSO is not visiting during OCI or the CSO has no scheduling protocol, applicants may contact the FSO directly. Applicants who have already graduated from law school should directly contact an FSO who is either stationed near the applicant or is interviewing at a law school near the applicant whichever is most convenient for the applicant. If you do not interview while an FSO is visiting a law school near you, you will be required to travel to an Army installation to interview with an available FSO. Travel expenses to interview with an FSO are not reimbursable. 4

5 Last minute requests for interviews will not be honored. Therefore, you should plan accordingly and schedule your interview as soon as possible. Active Duty and Combined Active Duty and Army Reserve applicants must be interviewed by an Active Duty FSO. Army Reserve Only Applicants Army Reserve only applicants must interview with a nearby Army Reserve FSO. Army Reserve FSOs should be contacted directly to arrange an interview. FSO Contact Information FSO lists for all applicants are available at LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION Letters of recommendation may be submitted as a part of your application, but are not required. Letters of recommendation should be based on a personal relationship with unbiased individuals and should address your reputation, abilities, and professional standing. You may submit up to 3 letters of recommendation. Provide the name of each recommender in your application. The preference is for the applicant to submit all letters of recommendation as part of the application. If the recommender is unwilling to provide the recommendation directly to the applicant, it may be sent directly to JARO (as indicated below). If the recommender will be submitting the recommendation directly to JARO, check the Sent Directly box on the application. This will help JARO locate the document and attach it to your application. Provide the following instructions to recommenders sending letters directly to JARO: 1. Digitally scan the signed letter of recommendation as a PDF file. 2. Attach the recommendation PDF file to an Send the recommendation to: usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.jaro@mail.mil 4. Include the following information in the subject line: Applicant s last name, applicant s first name, applicant s middle initial, and indicate whether the applicant is applying for Active Duty, Army Reserve, or Combined Active Duty and Army Reserve. Letters should be addressed as Dear President and Selection Board Members. You may use the following address for the letterhead: Judge Advocate Recruiting Office, 9275 Gunston Road, Suite 3200, Fort Belvoir, Virginia However, DO NOT mail letters of recommendation to JARO. Letters of recommendation sent directly to the JARO address must be received by the 1 November deadline. 5

6 PERSONAL STATEMENT 60. You must submit a statement regarding your interest, objectives, and motivation for applying for a commission in the Army JAG Corps. The personal statement is your opportunity to share why you want to join the JAG Corps with the selection board members. Your statement should not exceed 4,000 characters (this character count includes spaces). Anything in excess of 4,000 characters will be cut off by the application. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION CHECKLIST The following section lists all required and optional documents which must be submitted via along with your PDF application. Pay close attention to the naming convention required for each type of document. If you do not use the appropriate naming convention for each document, your application may not be considered by the selection board. Transcripts Upload a scanned PDF copy of a transcript for each undergraduate institution, graduate institution, and law school that you received a degree from, or where you are currently enrolled. Transcripts must be issued by the registrar (an internet grade report is NOT sufficient). Transcripts MUST include your name, the school s name or emblem, the degree conferred or currently in progress, and the date the degree was conferred. All pages of the transcript should be uploaded as one document with correctly oriented pages. If your school issues transcripts as electronically encrypted PDFs, have the transcript ed to you, print the PDF, then scan and submit the scanned copy. Most digital encryption in use now will not allow a third-party to view the original encrypted PDF due to time and access restrictions. Black out your SSN prior to scanning. Naming Convention: Last name, First name (undergraduate/graduate/law school) Transcript (e.g. Smith, Jane Graduate Transcript.pdf or Jones, Eric Law School Transcript.pdf) Resume Upload your resume as a PDF or Word file. Your resume should describe your relevant full-time and part-time legal and non-legal experience. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Resume (e.g. Beale, Lisa Resume.pdf) Bar Standing Information (if applicable) If you are currently a member of a bar, you must submit a certificate or letter from the clerk of the highest court of a state or federal court showing admission to practice and good standing before the bar. Do not submit a letter from your bar association. The certification or letter from the court must be dated within 6 months of the date of your application. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Bar Certification (e.g. Rich, Samuel Bar Certification.pdf) 6

7 Military Records (if applicable) Current or prior members of the military must submit all military performance evaluations. These applicants must also submit all discharge documents, including DD Form 214s and discharge orders. Remove your SSN from all documents, and scan all documents as ONE PDF file. Evaluations should be located at the beginning of the file in chronological order from most recent to least recent. Discharge documents should follow evaluations and also be ordered from most recent to least recent. Minimize file size in order to submit only one file if possible. If the file exceeds 10 MB, it should be broken into smaller files. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Military Records (e.g. Hong, Mary Military Records.pdf; for applicants sending multiple files, add a number to the end of the filename) Photograph You must submit a professional-appearing photo taken within the last year. A quality photo will show the applicant in professional attire in front of a plain or neutral background and will be a headshot or full body photograph. Current members of the military should submit an official DoD photo, or a professional-appearing photo in uniform. Photos should be JPEG files and resized so they are 1 MB or less. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Photo (e.g. Stevens, Anne Photo.jpg) Intern/Extern Evaluation (If applicable) If you served as an Army JAG Corps intern or extern, or an intern or extern for another military service, submit your evaluation(s) as a PDF file. Naming Convention: Last name, First name (Intern/Extern) Evaluation (e.g. Arthur, Drew Intern Evaluation.pdf or Lee, Heather Extern Evaluation.pdf) Writing Sample (optional) A writing sample, 10 pages in length or less, may be submitted, but is not required. Do not exceed the 10 page limit. You may submit your writing sample as a PDF or Word file. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Writing Sample (e.g. Kenner, Bradley Writing Sample.doc) Letters of Recommendation (optional) Up to 3 letters of recommendation may be submitted, but are not required. Reference the Letters of Recommendation section on page 5 for further information. Naming Convention: Last name, First name Recommendation from (Name of Recommender) (e.g. Vega, Danielle Recommendation from Perry Thorne.pdf) 7

8 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Once you have reviewed your PDF application for accuracy and completeness and collected all supporting documentation in the required format, you will submit all files to If possible, attach all files in one . The mailbox will accept s that are 22 MB or smaller. If your files are larger than 22 MB, you will need to send two s. JARO s system requires that applicants use the same address for all communication with JARO. All applications and supporting documentation must be submitted to usarmy.belvoir.hqda-otjag.mbx.application@mail.mil by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 1, The PDF application must be submitted in the fillable PDF format. Applications completed using software other than Adobe Acrobat or completed by hand will not be considered. Do not mail any hard copy documents to JARO. When your application and supporting documents are received by JARO, you will receive an notification. Your application will then be under completeness review. Make sure you check your daily (including the junk folder) in the event that your application requires corrections. If your application requires corrections, you must resubmit it in a timely manner to ensure consideration by the selection board. You will receive a second when your application has been approved for selection board consideration. You should receive the approval by November 29, The selection boards will meet in early December and results should be posted on our website ( by December 25,