Digging Deeper

A JAG officer is a commissioned officer serving on active duty in the US Military who serves as an attorney. JAG Officers operate in the military justice system as prosecutors and defense counsel. Others work in legal assistance, preparing wills and powers of attorney for navy personnel. Still others work in the field of international law, both on ships at sea, in overseas posts, and in Washington. In the Navy, JAG officers hold the lowest rank of ensign, all the way up to the highest rank of Rear Admiral.

Sometimes. They get some basic concept right. The uniforms are right on mark. But at other times, Jag is more Hollywood than reality. For example JAG headquarters are not located in Falls Church, Virginia. And most JAG officers don’t really fly F-15 Tomcats like Commander Rabb. Still, the show does a great job of illustrating some of the issues that Navy JAG officers face.

A Few Good Men, especially the dramatic court-martial scenes, is very close to being on mark. I’d say it’s about 85% accurate. The movie is based on an actual trial that took place in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, more than ten years ago.

The JAG Corps, particularly the Navy JAG Corps, provides the best opportunity for extensive trial experience with felony-level cases right out of law school.

Very realistic. Although Treason is a work of fiction, I’ve written the court-martial scenes with a view toward giving the reader a sense of being present in the midst of high-stakes courtroom drama involving national security.

Lieutenants Zack Brewer and Diane Colcernian are sharp, ambitious US Navy JAG Officers who are the main characters in the Navy Justice Series. They are fierce rivals from their days at the Naval Justice School in Newport Rhode Island, where Diane was class valedictorian. Zack, on the other hand, was a happy-go-lucky naval officer who could care less about class rank.

But he has a great natural flair for trial advocacy. When he whips Diane in the finals of the Naval Justice School Trial Advocacy Competition, her hatred for him grows. After justice school, they are both transferred to San Diego, where they clash like lions in a pit over a high-profile rape case that he is prosecuting and she is defending. Later, they are both assigned as co-prosecutors in the trial of three Islamic Chaplains accused of Treason.

The press calls it the Court-Martial of the Century and the chaplains are defended by internationally-acclaimed defense attorney Wells Levinson of Los Angeles. Zack and Diane must find a way to bury their friction, or better yet, channel it against a common enemy. If not, they will be buried themselves on national television by Levinson.

In a sense that’s fair to say. Brewer and Colcernian, at the end of the day, face insurmountable odds and must rely on all their faith and all their abilities for the task before them. Of course, David won his battle with Goliath. It may not be all that simple for Brewer and Colcernian.

The surname is Italian. She pronounces it like this: “Kol-ser-nee-un.” Accent on the second syllable, please. She doesn’t like when you mispronounce her name. And trust me. You don’t want her on your bad side.

Writing for me, is a catharsis, a source great relaxation. As a writer, you find yourself living with your characters, and living through them. I’m not as bad about this as I used to be, but when I was working on on my first novel, Destiny, I’d come home at night and say to my wife, “you won’t believe what Walter – my first book’s protagonist – did today.” Then I’d remind myself that Walter is a figment of my imagination. Or is he? Anyway it was kind of scary in a way. I’m not that bad anymore. But I still get "writers high" whenever I write.

I’m not too creative after six o’clock in the evenings. So, I typically read in the evenings and write in the mornings. Usually, I’ll write for an hour or two either at the Waffle House, McDonalds, or Chick-fil-a. Sometimes depending on my schedule, I’ll take my laptop and write on my lunch hour. I’m writing right now at Good Ole Days café, a 50's motif restaurant with good food and Elvis blaring from the jukebox.

Yes, Because the Chaplain Corps must, by law, embrace Islamic clerics and because it is difficult to root out deep-seeded radical Islamic beliefs from moderates who may mean no harm, the scenario is very realistic. In fact, in October of 2003, NBC News Correspondent Lisa Myers reported that the consultant who helped the Pentagon develop the military’s Muslim Chaplain Program, a man who served as a Pentagon consultant for ten years, was accused of providing “financial support to Hamas” and “financial support to fronts for al-Quaida.” NBC news reported that this individual was indicted.

I enjoy historical fiction and thrillers, with perhaps a tinge of romance interspersed from time-to-time. Some of the books that I’ve enjoyed in the last couple of years and would recommend include Safely Home, by Randy Alcorn; A Ship Possessed by Alton Gansky; The Corps Series, by W.E.B Griffin; the Shofar Blew, by Francine Rivers; The Trial, by Robert Whitlow; The Left Behind series, by LaHaye and Jenkins, and Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy.