If accepted, candidates will have to complete a rigorous five-week Reserve Officer Course Indoctrination (ROCI) course at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. The program is designed to foster leadership skills and craft candidates into Coast Guard officers. Afterwards, officers will have to complete an annual contingency law training course. Upon completion, JAs will commission with a O-2 rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade.
Coast Guard attorneys act as legal counsel and enforcement guidance in key Coast Guard mission areas. These opportunities allow Coast Guard JAs to practice in a litany of areas: maritime homeland security, enforcement of laws and treaties, particularly drug trafficking laws, fisheries laws, customs laws, environmental laws, and immigration law, intelligence, search and rescue, icebreaker operations, intelligence law; national security and defense operations, marine environmental protection; port safety and security, maritime defense zone responsibilities, etc. Coast Guard JAs, similar to other Judge Advocate programs, can provide legal advice to branch members on issues of family law, landlord/tenant law, estate planning, immigration law, fiscal law, etc. Upon completion of training, JAs will have to opportunity to practice in several locations across the United States, including Miami, Boston, Washington DC, Cleveland, Alameda, Seattle, and New Orleans.
