News

Area Defense Counsel serves as advocate for Robins Airmen

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Go through a side door and up a flight of stairs in Bldg. 368 and you will find an office occupied by two Airmen who answer to no one at Robins.

Not even Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, the commander of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, can tell Capt. Jennifer Powell and Tech Sgt. Vickie Harris what to do.

"We don't fall under anyone's chain of command on base," said Captain Powell, the area defense counsel. "Therefore, we cannot be influenced by any of them. They don't write our performance reports. They don't give feedback. Ultimately, our boss is in D.C. We have top cover."

Sergeant Harris is her paralegal. They are, in effect, the local public defenders in the military court system.

The chain of command issue is important, Captain Powell said, because many Airmen are reluctant to come to them out of concern over who they really represent.

Captain Powell stated unequivocally that their sole mission is to represent the Airmen, and anything said to them is strictly confidential. No commander or anyone else at Robins can even get them to acknowledge that an Airman came to them for help.

She provided a copy of the defense counsel charter which states that area defense counsels are to "promote the individual interests of service members they represent without regard to how their actions might otherwise affect the Air Force as an institution."

Captain Powell also pointed out they do much more than defend Airmen against criminal charges. They can represent Airmen in numerous administrative issues, especially when demotion or discharge is threatened.

"We do a lot of stuff on the administrative side that people don't realize," she said.

Of the 242 clients they represented in 2008, only nine were for courts-martial, although they have been a little busier than normal with courts-martial so far this year.

Sergeant Harris suggested that if Airmen are in doubt about whether they can get help through the Area Defense Counsel, they should give the office a call. If she can't help, she said, she can at least provide information on who can.

"We are just here to help people," said Sergeant Harris. "There is such a misconception that people have about coming to the ADC. We wanted to let people know that they do have an advocate and someone to help them tell their side of story."

Of the criminal cases they handle, the list doesn't sound much different than it might be in a courtroom outside the gates of Robins. Captain Powell said drugs and assaults are among the most common criminal cases they handle, although she said it can fluctuate. Alcohol abuse is often a contributing factor, she said.

Any criminal act that happens on base automatically falls in their jurisdiction. They usually try to get jurisdiction when Airmen are accused of crimes off base, but civilian courts are sometimes reluctant to give that up. One example is driving under the influence, which civilian courts like to keep because of the fine money involved.

Captain Powell holds a law degree from Willamette University College in Oregon and passed the bar exam, just like any other attorney.

Some people, she said, incorrectly perceive that military attorneys, called judge advocate generals, or JAGS, don't have the same qualifications as civilian attorneys. A law degree is required to become a JAG, she said.

Like other JAGs, she started out as a prosecutor, but since moving to the defense side, she said she has found the work more interesting.

"I think sometimes when you work in the legal office and your client is the government it's kind of a faceless client, but in defense you are dealing with real people," she said.