To become a JA in the Navy, one must become an officer. There are two prominent steps in becoming a Navy JA:
Phase 1: Officer Developmental School (ODS): "ODS is a five-week course of instruction designed to acquaint newly commissioned staff corps officers with the customs and traditions of the naval service. ODS is less demanding than Officer Candidate School (OCS), which is used to screen applicants who want to service in traditional naval officer communities like aviation and surface warfare. As an ODS student, you will receive extensive leadership training and learn what it means to be a naval officer. You will be required to march to and from classes, participate in physical fitness training, and stand personnel and room inspections. Also included is instruction on the basic principles of damage control (firefighting, flood measures, and first aid), Navy administration, and disciplinary measures."
Phase 2: "The Naval Justice School (NJS): the NJS in Newport, RI provides intensive instruction to officers in the fundamental principles of military justice, civil and administrative law, and procedure, with practical application of those principals. NJS students attend the Basic Lawyer Course and, upon successful completion of this course, become certified as Navy judge advocates. The course of instruction is nine-ten weeks and covers civil and military law, as well as intensive trial advocacy training. If you are a Student Program selectee, you will promote to Lieutenant Junior Grade on your first day of active duty at NJS. Once you begin active duty at NJS, you will be required to serve four years. After a four-year active duty obligation, your name will remain on a list of inactive reserve officers for four additional years if you choose to leave active duty."
The Judge Advocate General's Corps within the Department of the Navy was established in 1967, the law establishing the Corps was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Prior to this enactment, all Naval lawyers were line officers who had been lawyers in their civilian lives. During the second World War, with the expansion of the Navy, these line officers saw practice in prosecution and defense teams for court martial proceedings. Following the end of the war, most of these attorneys stayed with the Navy, and ,in 1947, the Navy created a "law specialist" program to allow line officers restricted duty to perform legal services. Within two decades with the law specialist program, the Uniform Code of Military Justice was passed, which led to increasing pressure to create a separate corps of lawyers within the department.
The Navy offers several practice areas for interested JAs. For court-martials, JAs can either be prosecutors or defense attorneys. JAs can also provide legal services to sailors with regards to consumer, family, and fiscal law issues. They can also advise commanders on operational law issues. The Navy JAG also has a prominent victims' legal counsel presence for those who have been sexually assaulted, reported a sexual assault, or have been referred by a victims' advocate. Also, the Navy allows JAs to represent those who are being forced to separate from service due to a medical condition. Practicing in disability law allows JAs to assist sailors going through the disability evaluation system.
