The Fighting JAG Blog
The Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic is proud to bring you the updated blog of the "Fighting JAG," Captain Lyndsey M.D. Kimber who is the full-time Deputy Staff Judge Advocate (JAG) for the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division in Rosemont, Minnesota. Lyndsey will be updating her blog live from overseas with recent photos, giving us the insight not only from a proud member of the miltary, but a successful Attorney in the US Army JAG Corps.
Check back daily for updates!
Captain Lyndsey Kimber's Biographical Information
Welcome to the Fighting JAG Blog
8-21-2008 - Lyndsay's First Post from Kuwait
9-3-2008 - Living in a Foreign War Zone
9-9-2008 - Arrival and Sandstorm
9-10-2008 - The Office and Staff
9-15-2008 - Criminal Law
9-20-2008 - Fallen Soldiers
9-22-2008 - Trip to MNC
10-13-2008 - Article 32 Hearing
10-16-2008 - Al-Basrah
10-21-2008 - Reset Day
CAPTAIN LYNDSEY MD KIMBER FIGHTING JAG BLOG BIO
Captain Lyndsey M.D. Kimber is the full-time Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division in Rosemount, Minnesota. She has been a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard since January 2001. CPT Kimber is currently deployed to Balad, Iraq with the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade as their International Law Officer and Brigade Trial Counsel.
Captain Kimber is a graduate of the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course, the Legal Assistance Course, Law of War Course, Domestic and International Operational Law Courses, Criminal Law Advocacy Course, Fiscal Law Course and Information Operations Course, all taken at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Captain Kimber is also a DoD Certified Mediator. Captain Kimber has been a frequent instructor for the Minnesota State Bar Association on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and military family law. This was her second year as an instructor for the Family Law Institute, and she is frequently called upon by civilian counsel assisting servicemembers and their families as an expert in the areas of military pension division and SCRA. Additionally, Captain Kimber has authored several articles on the SCRA and other military issues, as well as, standard operating procedures and guides on subjects including, informal military investigations, immigration, military justice, and legal requirements for soldier readiness. Her most recent piece appears in the Minnesota Journal. Before deployment she was an active member of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute Warrior to Citizen Campaign and the assistant editor for the Roll Call publication of the Family Law Committee of the ABA.
Captain Kimber received her Bachelors Degree, cum laude, in Philosophy, Law & Rhetoric in 1998 from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She received her law degree in 2003 from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota and is currently working on a Masters of Business Administration from University of St. Thomas, also in St. Paul. While in law school, Captain Kimber served as a Primary Editor of the Hamline Law Review. She also worked as a professor's research assistant, providing case and statutory research for a Uniform Commercial Code text published by West Publishing. Prior to law school and joining the Minnesota Army National Guard, Captain Kimber worked for the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security. She was assigned to a field office in Chicago, Illinois and to the Department's Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Welcome to the Fighting JAG Blog
Welcome to the Fighting JAG Blog. My name is Lyndsey Kimber. I am an active duty military attorney for the US Army. I am currently deployed to Iraq. My bio is available to give you some background on me, but I am no one special. That is to say, I am one of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the US military and other militaries around the world that have deployed to Iraq. I can only tell you my experience. I will do my best to tell you what deployment is like for me as an attorney in the US Army JAG Corps without violating attorney-client privilege, operational security, and Army Regulation, or getting yelled at by my boss.
The opinions in this blog are mine in my personal capacity. None of the opinions stated in this blog are those of the Department of Defense, the US Army, The Judge Advocate General's Corps or the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade. The rank designation of Captain is used merely for identification purposes and not to denote speaking in official capacity for the US Government or any official position of any US Government Agency.
Now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, we can get to the good stuff...
8-21-2008 Lyndsey's First Blog Post from Kuwait
Surprise! It's hot here, real hot. Being outside feels like standing in the oven while it's cooking something, and that something is me. We arrived in Kuwait a week ago. I kept thinking I would start writing when something interesting happened. I saw camels today, so I figured it was as good a day as any to begin.
We spent about eight weeks at our mobilization station, which was about five weeks too many for me. We hit a few required training events, none of which had to be accomplished there, but to hear Stars and Stripes describe the new National Guard home station training plan, one would think the burden of it is single-handedly bankrupting the entire Department of Defense, whereas the former, antiquated six month train-up on active duty posts was better for everyone. That gosh darn National Guard. We go and make them an operational force and suddenly they think they're...operational. Seriously boys, let's recap: Historically that whole "separate but equal" idea has never worked well. I submit home station training costs less, and is more efficient. But then how would the active duty posts refurbish? I hear Ft. Sill has mold. Scratch that, I know Ft. Sill has mold. How to sum up mobilization station? Well, it's like Basic Training, only the Basic Training soldiers can wear civilian clothes at the Post Exchange and catch a movie at the local theater. On the plus side, our entire Brigade had the opportunity to come together from several different independent organizations and meld into one well oiled war fighting machine. Hooah!
We are now acclimating, the desert equivalent of sea legs. I am already starting to appreciate the beautiful weather in the early morning and evening when the temperature dips below 100 degrees and it feels downright balmy. We are sleeping on cots in large tents with wood floors. The AC in these puppies works quite well. We all have a system for hanging items from the beams of the tent, and a cot behind our sleeping cot holds the rest of our gear. Showers are in a trailer about 20 yards from the tent. This is a hassle. I won't bore you with my "girl" routine, but suffice it to say that having the porta-potty 20 yards in the other direction from both where I sleep, and where I shower is an unqualified pain in the... not to mention "combat" showers have to be taken early in the morning or late at night to avoid scalding (no cold water here folks). Water is trucked in. We are each allocated 15 gallons a day- for everything. Combat showers go something like this: Turn water on. Get wet. Turn water off. Lather. Rinse. Turn water off. If you are in the shower for three minutes that is too long, water hog.
The chow however, is great. The chow hall is my favorite building actually. I hear it was a gift from the Kuwaitis. All I know is it has an excellent food selection, an indoor fountain, sculptures made of fruit, real silverware and plates, and an indoor bathroom with a marble vanity and flushing toilets! Golly, I love the chow hall!
This morning we were up at 3AM and went to the weapons range. A nomad lives nearby and raises camels. We were told not to accidentally shoot the camels. The brown ones cost $8,000.00 to replace and the white ones cost $100,000.00. I think this is why the nomad is still living by the weapons range. I shot the camels on purpose- with my camera. (Picture coming soon)
9-3-2008 - Living in a Foreign War Zone
Next time you're at the office look around at your coworkers. Take a moment and try to visualize living and socializing with them non-stop for a year without your family, in a foreign war zone.
9-9-2008 - Arrival and Sandstorm
We are here! Eureka, it's Balad, Iraq!
I am living in one half of a trailer. The air conditioner works well. This is a priority.
Although, the last few days it has been getting cool in the mornings. When I travel to the latrine in the morning, sometimes I think, it must be about 78 degrees; it's cool out. It turns out I am hallucinating. It is not cool out. It is 100 degrees. I think when I return to Minnesota, I might really freeze to death. Seriously.
As you can see, I am spoiled. I have a TV. We get eight channels of Armed Forces Network.
I need to dust and sweep daily. Dust is everywhere. There are some days the dust hangs in the air like a fog and coats your skin; you can taste it when you breathe. We had a dust storm last weekend. It came on suddenly, like a tornado. The wind had been blowing that morning, creating intermittent gusts of dust. Toward the early afternoon you could see the sun again and the thickness in the air dissipated. Around dinnertime I stepped out the back door of our building and the air was still and hazy. Abruptly the sky turned a bright misty orange, followed by a straight line wind that showered me with sand grains. The few belligerent trees that survive here swayed as the sand cloud descended.
No Midwesterners, that's not snow in the camera lens, its sand. That orange color is really what it looked like outside, only a bit brighter.
9-10-2008 - The Office and Staff
We are currently sharing the JAG office with the unit we are replacing. This overlap is quite the full house. However, it provides us the continuity we need to be successful. I arrived at the office to find a court-martial already waiting for me. Fortunately, the trial counsel I am taking over for is like my long lost soul sister. She has graciously allowed me to tag along with her most everywhere and ask all my “newbie” questions. We have become fast friends and I will be sad to see her go. The command judge advocate for the departing unit is also a criminal law guru. I am being taught well.
We office in a long narrow building. All the windows have been filled in with sandbags. We occupy two offices at the end of the hall. The paralegals share one office and the attorneys share an office. It’s deluxe.
The office above is the paralegal office. I don’t want to show you the attorney office. It needs some cleaning…
The only thing I can count on is that every day is different. I take clients by appointment or walk-in for a variety of matters including family law, citizenship, commercial and consumer issues. In between these, I work on military justice cases, talking with commanders, interviewing witnesses, working with the military police and Army Criminal Investigation Division, and preparing paperwork for court-martial. Commanders and other leaders intermittently stop by for advice with soldier issues, rules of engagement questions, and fiscal law issues. The command judge advocate and I have a pretty good division of labor. Sometimes though the issue is worked by whichever of us is available when the issue comes in. We are a tight knit team.
9-15- 2008 - Criminal Law
I woke up this morning to the sounds of F-16 afterburners and gunfire (don't tell my mom). This was the first day I have heard sustained gunfire since being here. That is not to say we have not been attacked, because we do get indirect fire from time to time.
I spent all day today interviewing witnesses for the preferral of charges for court-martial. Preferral is the first step in court-martial and it is normally done by the Soldier's immediate commander (yes, we capitalize Soldier). It is a formal accusation. For those of you not familiar with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), there are a lot of similarities to the civilian criminal code, but some distinct differences as well. Charging crimes is one of the differences. When we charge a crime, we do it on a Charge Sheet filled in with the Soldier's pertinent identifying and military information. Crimes are laid out in charges and then specifications. The specifications are different occurrences (at different times or with different victims) of the same charge. For instance, if the charge is UCMJ Article 121-Larceny, and the suspect is accused of larceny on three different occasions there would be three different specifications under that charge.
There are three levels of courts-martial: Summary, Special and General. Summary court-martial is sort of a cross between a petty misdemeanor and a misdemeanor. Summary court conviction is not considered a Federal criminal conviction the way that Special and General courts-martials are, but it is a conviction that stays in the soldier's permanent military file. Instead of a judge, an experienced military officer is appointed to review and hear evidence, and neither soldiers nor the government are represented by counsel. Convictions though can result in jail time for E4 and below. Special and General courts-martial are reserved for more serious crimes and are Federal criminal convictions. Either can be tried by a judge or a panel (jury).
Another huge difference in the UCMJ is that Commanders decide whether a Soldier should be charged with a crime, instead of the lawyers. As legal advisors to the commanders they take our recommendations in most, if not all situations, but the ultimate decision still rests with them. Different levels of command are convening authorities for different levels of courts-martial, depending on rank and position. It is the convening authority that refers (different from preferral) a case to court martial. Referral is formal charging of the crime.
Many of the witnesses I interviewed today were worried about talking to me and terrified of losing their jobs. During the interviews it took many reassurances for them to feel at ease. Most of these witnesses were from areas of the world that have been known to have brutal dictatorships and secret police. I am sure that past experience or knowledge from their homes influenced their fears. I believe many of them have taken jobs here to escape from whatever is happening in their countries. I want to be able to show these people that an experience with the American military will be positive and different than that of their homelands.
9-20-2008 - Fallen Soldiers
On September 18, 2008 Task Force 34 lost 7 soldiers when one of our helicopters went down near Basra, Iraq. What happens to one of us happens in some way to all of us.
Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism? ~Henry Ward Beecher
http://www.taskforce34.org/our_fallen_soldiers/index.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26764416/
9-22-2008 - Trip to MNC
Ahh, Autumn!! I love the fall., the smell of smoky crisp air, the vibrant trees, and an excuse for a warm fire and apple cider. I hope you all are enjoying autumn. I am enjoying sandstorm and sand flea season. The temperature has dropped here too. Its down to the mid-nineties most days. Good thing too, we wouldn't want the sand fleas getting too hot.
We journeyed to Baghdad recently to visit our counterparts at our higher headquarters. They are housed in Saddam's old palace there. It was my first trip on a Blackhawk since being in theater.
 
Flying over Baghdad you can see areas where reconstruction has begun, nicer areas with trees, some greenery and buildings that actually look habitable. While violence persists, and the country is on the verge of many changes to come, there is progress here within communities towards living life without oppression and terrorism.
In most areas though, the evidence of past violence and current poverty is pervasive. In Baghdad there are miles of dirty streets, bombed out buildings, and slums with trash and debris strewn about.
Once at the palace inside one of Saddam's old compounds, the stark contrast between the life of the average Iraqi (war or no war) and its former leader is at once atrocious and galling. My understanding is that this palace was only one of Saddam's many homes.
Main hall chandelier and gilded tile ceiling
 
Note the soldiers to the right and left. Marble staircase in the hall.
That puts the door in perspective. Don't you have one of these?
View from the balcony outside the MNC-I JAG shop.
I think where they set up used to be a guest bedroom.
The whole military justice section works in an old walk-in closet.
No, its not your imagination, this is a bathroom. It is now also a storage closet. It is made entirely of marble and porcelain. It is so big I could only get half of it in the picture. The room is about 225 sq. ft. with a 20 foot ceiling.
This is "The Throne." It's the military deployment to Iraq equivalent of getting your picture with Mickey at Disneyworld.
The chair itself has an interesting history. It was given to Saddam Hussein by the late Palestinian leader Yasar Arafat.
The book overhead is the Koran, the Muslim Holy Book. The writing on it states, "In the name of God the Merciful and Gracious: glorifies who traveled his servant (the Prophet Mohammad) by night from Mecca to Jerusalem, that I (God) blessed all around to show him (Muhammad) my miracles, that I (God) am the Respondent and All-hearing."
The writing below the book reads, "Victory from God and victory is soon." The pattern below the writing is that of the Arab head scarf "Al-Ghetra" worn by Arafat. The gold dome is the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem. The writing to the right on the side states, "Jerusalem is ours".
There is no gift like the gift of propaganda, eh?
10-13-2008 - Article 32 Hearing
We conducted the Article 32 pretrial investigation recently on my general court martial case. The Article 32 is an interesting animal. It is similar in ways to a grand jury. When charges are preferred (a formal accusation), the Article 32 investigation must follow in accordance with Rule for Court-Martial 405, which details, among other items, rights of the accused, production of witnesses and evidence. The command initiates the Article 32 and appoints an investigating officer (IO). The investigating officer is usually a Major, an experienced mid-level officer, but not normally a lawyer or a judge (although they can be). This IO, with the help if a legal advisor, investigates the charges and determines if probable cause exists to move forward to court- martial on the charges. The investigation is run like a court hearing with counsel present for both the government and the accused. The government, the accused and the IO can all call witnesses. With a few exceptions the rules of evidence do not apply.
While the Article 32 is in ways advantageous to both sides, it seems particularly advantageous to the defense, who has the opportunity to sample the goods, so to speak, with witnesses and evidence. All government evidence is given to the defense ,and government witnesses are listed in advance. However, the government will normally try to put on only the parts of the case necessary to meet the elements of the offenses to avoid exposing their whole case to the defense pretrial. This leaves work on the part of the defense to conduct their own discovery on the witnesses. This is a good way for the defense to test the strength of the government case. Our current case is pretty strong and pulling more information out of the witnesses only cemented the pattern of misconduct by the accused. The Article 32 was successful and the recommendations of the IO support going forward to general court-martial. The case will now go to referral up at Multi-National Corps- Iraq (MNC-I).
I have worked with two different co-counsel on this case. My co-counsel from the Article 32 is on his way back stateside in a few days, so he will not be with me for trial. I have a new co-counsel from MNC-I. He and I have trouble getting together though since we are in two different locations. He comes here fairly often for other issues so we are able to meet sporadically. This will be an interesting case to try as it involves a consent search, electronic evidence and a recently revised article of the UCMJ. We also have to work with third country nationals and an interpreter. Finding, certifying and using the interpreter causes its own separate set of issues as well.
The majority of my witnesses are from the Philippines and speak Tagalog (the last 'g' is silent). These people drive buses here on Joint Base Balad. I have been very impressed with their demeanor and integrity. They are extremely hard workers. They work for one of our biggest contractors, KBR. These people work every day, normally 12 to 14 hour shifts. Some of them have been here for five years. Most of them are sending money back to their families in their home country.
This case has been a excellent experience with interesting hurdles to overcome. Questioning witnesses through an interpreter is quite the challenge. Often it takes patience and perseverance to question the witnesses thoroughly working through a third party and breaching language and cultural barriers. To complicate matters further, many of the questions I needed to ask were of an intimate nature and caused embarrassment to many of the witnesses.
This case has strengthened my advocacy skills and tested my creative problem solving skills. I am almost looking forward to trial...almost.
10-16-2008 - Al-Basrah (or Basra)
Being an Army Judge Advocate, commonly called (JAG), we are essentially in-house counsel for the Army. Our services take on many diverse advisory capacities. A lawyer can work almost any area of the law as a judge advocate. With few exceptions, our client is that nebulous entity "The Army", and in turn our clients become commanders as agents of the Army. Forming relationships with commanders is one of the most important things for a judge advocate to do. Commanders need to know and trust their judge advocates. I like my commanders to know me. I feel that coming to them to form the relationship is important. I want my commanders to know I take my role as their advisor seriously and that I am available for them when they need me, and even sometimes when the don't know they need me. Legal issues touch all areas of command. A big part of a judge advocate's job is to identify issues and present solutions. The basis for effectiveness is trust. In order to build this trust I have been traveling to different areas of Iraq where we have units to meet with commanders, brief on military justice and discuss legal issues they may have.
My latest trip was to Basra, also known as Al-Basrah. This forward operating base is in southern Iraq, in the vicinity of the Kuwaiti border. The base is run by the British, and things are just different enough to leave you thinking, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."
To its credit, people stationed in Basra seem to like it. Some of them said they prefer it to Joint Base Balad (JBB) despite lack of amenities. I was not one of those people. This experience shed a whole new light on the trailer living and constant F-16 noise of good old JBB. The sleeping accommodations are something straight out of a vampire movie. In a large living tent, there are multiple cinder block pods with walls about three feet high that have a small floor space that barely fits my ruck sack. Over the other half of the pod is an enormous steel plate that covers the area where the mattress is - like a coffin, about three feet above the mattress. I could not even sit up on the bed. This situation requires rolling out of bed to avoid hitting your head, while simultaneously attempting to avoid the dust covered floor. When I arrived in my sleeping tent at about one o'clock in the morning, I guided myself ,with a small flashlight, to an open pod. I chose one with plastic on the mattress in an attempt to avoid a sand flea onslaught. Being a self-respecting American female, the first thing on my mind was bugs. I checked in every crevice, corner and crack at least four times for anything that looked like a spider, scorpion or snake. Still, I was sure something would find me in the night. I slept in my full uniform with my sleeping back fully zipped up and only my head sticking out. I am not afraid to admit it, I was paranoid. Needless to say this was not my best night's sleep, but boy, was I motivated to get up bright and early and head into work!
In the end it was all worth it. Meeting with the commanders and first-sergeants was an important gesture to say to a remote unit that they are supported and help is available when they need it.
After all, I am a lawyer, I' m here to help.
You're probably wondering why I took this boring picture, but this is pretty much what the whole place looks like. Welcome to Basra.
Again with the cement blocks. The British love those things. Each table was surrounded with cement blocks. Note the equipment on the walls behind us. Everyone puts their equipment up while eating. My paralegal and I enjoyed brilliant British Army cuisine. If you're ever in the neighborhood, I highly recommend the chicken curry, and I hear the omelets are good too.
10-21-08 - Reset Day
In theater every day is like the next. The term is Groundfob Day. Ok, I'll break it down for you: it's a mix of Groundhog Day, as in the movie where the day repeats itself again and again, and FOB, or Forward Operating Base. A Monday is a Friday is a Sunday. And yes, I know when its Wednesday because its seafood night and they have crab legs (except at the end of the fiscal year). So far I have managed to take a day off about once every three weeks. I love my weekends just as much as the next person, but here it seems natural to keep on working and working. So yesterday was my reset day (that's deployment speak for a day off). A day away from the office to reset and get back in the game. I had a good day planned. A friend and I had coordinated our reset day so we could get our nails done in the morning at the spa. Ok, so the spa is a trailer that says Beauty Salon run by Army &Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) where you can get a pedicure soaking in a little plastic dishpan. Saying spa makes me feel better. I never got to the spa. I was called into work for a military justice emergency just after I woke up and spent the day at work. Content by seven pm that the odds of a work emergency two days in a row were slim, I decided to do a second take on my reset day. This time I am on my own. Last night I thought I would wake up go to the gym and then read my book outside Green Bean coffee. I never got there. In fact I barely made it to lunch chow. I've been watching Sex and the City on DVD all day. The truth is I am missing home. I miss my family, my friends, my life. I miss having brunch. I miss grocery shopping. I miss shoe shopping in a store for shoes that don't come in combat boot style. Even being lazy and watching TV isn't the same. I would love to meander into the kitchen in my favorite comfy clothes and get comfort food. Instead I have to force myself to put my uniform on and walk through the rocks and sand to the chow hall. Part of me feels bad for feeling bad. A few days after meeting guys who practically live in their combat vehicles, I'm missing home sitting in my trailer in front of my TV. Just as the guilt is setting in, I remember a conversation I had with one of my coworkers who is on his second tour. His first tour he saw combat, harsh combat. He lost friends. He struggled with this tour, with coming back to war. Only this time its different for him. He's here on the FOB. There's danger, sure, but not back to back missions. No opportunity to lose himself in combat. When he started talking about how his tour is going I expected him to say how easy this tour is compared to last time. Instead I heard, "this time is harder." I was surprised. How could Joint Base Balad with all its accoutrements be harder than sleeping in a tent on a remote dusty FOB where sometimes you don't even have water? "There is so much time here," he said. "Being away is being away. Being in combat every day, focusing on the mission and keeping yourself alive is easier in some ways. There is less time to miss home." Today the truth of this hits me. Partly we're workaholics, but mostly we work everyday so we don't think about what we're really missing.
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