The enlisted component of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps consists of just one Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), 27D Paralegal Specialist. Many attorneys in the civilian sector work in highly specialized legal areas—taxes, administrative, contract, tort, criminal, civil, etc.—and their paralegals tend to focus in on narrow fields of research and administration. But Army Paralegal Specialists deal not only with all those areas, but also the complicated subjects of military justice and administrative law.
Army Paralegals work with Judge Advocates, Judges, Unit Commanders, and military personnel and their families to ensure that legal services are available to everyone involved in any type of judicial proceeding. They perform legal research and prepare documents used both administratively and in the courtroom during courts-martial and Article 15 hearings (for non-judicial punishments), interview witnesses and take depositions, and generally provide assistance regarding legal procedures or processes.
Enlisted personnel seeking a career as a Paralegal Specialist who qualify via the ASVAB (a minimum score of 105 in the Clerical category is required) first attend two-and-a-half months of Basic Combat Training, then undergo ten weeks of Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in the 27D MOS. Previously held at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the 27D AIT training program was relocated to Fort Lee, Virginia in 2012 to take advantage of the facilities and personnel at the JAG Legal Center and School held there. (Fort Lee was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in the Spring of 2023.)
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