“A Few Good Men” is like a classic wine, aging well over the years. However, the hit movie about military lawyers falls short of reality, say actual lawyers with the Judge Advocate Group at Offutt Air Force Base. Especially, a classic scene depicting a junior officer’s challenge of a senior ranking official. The lawyer was warned he could face court-martial for challenging the colonel. Nothing could be farther from truth in reality, says Offutt’s JAG commander.

A defense attorney is expected to represent the client zealously, said Lt. Col. John Reid, commander of the 55th Wing’s Judge Advocate Group.

“It’s one of my favorite scenes,” Reid said. “So, I don’t want to insult it, but I don’t think it would be as high stakes as they frame it.”

Another misnomer about the movie and other Hollywood productions is that JAG attorneys are always in court. Said Capt. Miranda Moorman.

“It is a very important part of our system, having that justice,” she said. “But civil law and operations law are also a huge portion of ensuring the airmen are ready and able to deploy worldwide at the drop of a hat.”

Military law – based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice – differs from civilian law in that it’s based on mission readiness. While a civilian may not face legal issues for some drugs, being late to work or falsifying documents, a servicemember can face jail time, reduction in rank or financial penalties.

“Those aren't things in the civilian side, but for us, we have a mission to be supporting and pursuing, and so it's those things that impact the mission,” said Senior Airman Ayanna Clarke, a paralegal. “The reason they're not in the civilian side, but are on the military side, is because we are trying to bolster that mission and make sure that that mission is being achieved.”

The Offutt JAG office consists of three areas – Justice (courtroom trials), Civil (assisting servicemembers with civil law issues) and Operational (overcoming legal hurdles that could impact the base mission), Reid said.

While most people think of court trials when it comes to the law, in the Air Force, most of the action likely comes from what some people may consider mundane tasks – helping servicemembers with wills and other legal documents, resolving landlord/tenant issues

impacted by deployments and ensuring servicemembers have everything they need concerning deployments.

While the military has jurisdiction over servicemembers, there are situations that require agreements with local governments, such as Sarpy and Douglas counties, and even other countries, said Captain Vanessa Skillman, who works in the Justice section.

The JAG will work to determine who maintains jurisdiction over a servicemember who may face charges off base, Skillman said.

“Ultimately, depending on how the case is and some of the overarching facts, if it is that it's originally in civilian jurisdiction, they'll have it initially,” she said. “However, that's where we get those requests in which we're working with the locals requesting that jurisdiction, saying, ‘Hey, we would like to handle this case and work it on our level,’ but there are times in which they handle it on their end, and then there's different adverse action that's taken on our end. So there are times when we're working in tandem, and times when we're requesting it from them, or they're proceeding in their own court.”

However, servicemembers will not face charges for the same crime in a civilian court and a military tribunal, Reid said. But, the servicemember may face military-related crimes as a result of the civilian charges, he said.

Internationally, while the military attempts to negotiate to have jurisdiction over its members, most countries will charge individuals in their courts. If convicted, the servicemember can face prison time in that country.

“Certain countries, for instance, a drug offense that may be seen as much more verboten in certain cultures than others,” Reid said. “So if you're in Korea, a place like Germany, they may be more likely to keep it and prosecute it.”

If a case proceeds to trial on base, the military judicial system has separate prosecutors and defense attorney sections, Reid said. Unlike the former television series “JAG,” a commander doesn’t assign JAG officers to serve as a prosecutor or defense attorney, he said.

“It prevents a person from trying to influence a case,” Reid said.

While a military courtroom appears similar to its civilian counterpart, instead of a jury of 12 people, a military panel may consist of 3-8 servicemembers, Skillman said.

Lower ranking enlisted members will face a panel of higher ranking servicemembers, such as Non-Commissioned Officers (staff sergeant and above), while senior NCOs may have a panel of commissioned officers, she said.

The Offutt courtroom, with seating available for about 20 observers in the gallery, features vintage furnishings from an old Omaha post office, Skillman said. The bar, which is present in nearly every American courtroom, is used because attorneys “pass the bar” to serve, she said.

While the JAG may refer to it as Civil section, a servicemember can’t sue another servicemember for financial reasons in a military court. The division supports servicemembers and their dependents in civil paperwork, including wills, notary items and landlord issues.

“Civil law, which is all the cats and dogs, it's really one of our biggest portfolios,” Reid said. “That is what we call Legal Assistance, which is helping our airmen with things like landlord/tenant issues, family law. Issues things like that. And it's a great entitlement that they get.”

Retired servicemembers can also use the legal assistance for wills and other items, Clarke said. The office hosts a Retired Appreciation Day annually, offering legal services, she said.

Operational law is a major detour from civilian law, as it specifically relates to airmen deployment. Attorneys advise military units, such as base operations and maintenance, regarding mission readiness, Moorman said. They also work with the civil section on deployers’ wills, she said.

“It can truly be anything from flying hours to impacts to the airfield,” Moorman said. “We do environmental law.”

While each attorney and paralegal – the unit has 25 people assigned to it – could easily work in the civilian sector, they felt a calling to serve their nation.

For Capt. Brian Kennedy, he decided to join the Air Force during his third year of law school at the University of Richmond (Virginia).

“I had a couple of my classmates who were Army JAGs, and they were telling me all about their plans for the future,” he said. “And it was really exciting to me, just the idea of being able to not be stuck in one area of the law. We get to touch a lot of different areas while also serving the mission. So that's what sort of inspired me to go in that direction.”

For Reid, beyond commanding a successful team of legal professionals, he also serves an impressive set of clients.

“Where else do I get to work for a wing commander and all these squadron commanders?” Reid said. “Like, those are my clients. It sounds kind of cheesy, but my clients are American heroes, truly. And those are the people I get to work with every day.”

Reid’s office view isn’t too shabby, either. Occupying the office once used by General Curtis LeMay, the initial commander of the Strategic Air Command, which was located at Offutt, and whose administrative offices are now used by the JAG.

“I joke that no matter what rank I make in the future, this is the best office I'll ever have,” he said. “And you have a beautiful view.”