NJS, Part 2

The first five weeks at NJS are considered to be the difficult weeks, and so now we are through those. All in all, they were not really that difficult. Yes, I stayed up late a few nights to finish an investigation manual or to prepare for a guilty plea or to write a will, and I always had SOMETHING to work on, but it's not like I would be able to do much else up here anyway what with being buried under snow and never wanting to go outside.

We have not had a Pain Before Breakfast run since the first week due to ice and snow on the sidewalks. Instead we just do individual workouts on Wednesday mornings (though we are going to attempt a run on-base on Thursday). We get a pretty good workout in trying to get to or from the school, though, as the quickest path goes over a bridge that we call "The Bridge of Death" because it has been nothing but ice since the first snowfall. Minus five points for military bearing every time you cross it.

The classes have been very interesting. Military criminal justice is MUCH more scripted than civilian criminal justice. There is an actual script that we use- it's like a choose-your-own-adventure book for everything that can possibly happen at a court-martial. Pleading guilty? Turn to page 18. Pleading guilty to some charges but not to others? Page 31. Judge-only trial? Page 43. Etc.... Then you literally just read off of the script, inserting the appropriate words in blank spaces. Yes, you still get to do all of the normal trial things, but the script adds a good chunk of time to what I remember from mock trial.

I have learned that my first rotation once I get back to DC will likely be in the trial counsel department. I won't be allowed to do a whole lot, from what I have heard, but it will be fun to jump into something that I am at least sort of familiar with from my mock trial days.

The people continue to be one of the best parts of being a part of the JAG Corps. While my normal plan is always to go back to my hotel room after class and crank up the heat and never leave, they have consistently coaxed me out of my warm cocoon in order to go out to do one thing or another, and it is always worth it.

Oh, and one of my fellow Marine JAGs is a Woodberry grad. We were assigned to be opposing counsel for a guilty plea and got along very well.  After we had hammered out a pre-trial agreement we started talking about where we were from. When I told him I was from Burlington, he said he knew someone from there and asked where I went to high school. I told him not in Burlington. He again asked where. I told him in Virginia. He again asked where. I told him a small boarding school. He again asked where. I said Woodberry. He said "me too!" And then we discovered that he had been in the class of 2006 and I actually knew who he was but just didn't recognize him or his name since we call each other by last names up here. His father was visiting this weekend and took us out to dinner where we talked all about Woodberry and the good times we had there.