| matter. I looked into both Navy and USMC. I would think you'd want to do shop around too if you're not sure. They do differ significantly as far as both training and requirements for being selected. In any of the branches you're going to be going in as a junior officer (2nd Lt. or equivalent). The requirements for being selected vary because of what you will be expected to do in any given branch.
In either the Navy or Marine Corps you'd end up in Naval Justice School after law school but before being allowed to practice law in the military. In either case, after being selected based on physical fitness (varies) and character (no major problems) you'd have to pass the bar (can be any state, I think).
If you were to go into the Navy you'd go to an abridged version of Officer's Candidate School (OCS). They mockingly call it forks and knives school from what I hear from friends who've been through it.
As a Marine, on the other hand, you'd be made into a regular Marine Officer before you could practice law (no joke). The USMC has a philosophy that all Marines are Marines first before anything else. You'd be expected to go through the real USMC OCS first. If you make it through those three months, you'd then go to what USMC calls the Basic School (TBS). Not to be confused with Basic Training, TBS is a sixth month course which teaches you how to be a Marine. You learn how to shoot, fight, blow things up, etc. After that you'd go to Naval Justice School. You'd then go on to serve 3 years as a Marine lawyer. It is a long route, but you'd definitely have earned something. And think about after you get out... as a first year associate in a big firm you'd probably be the only one with that kind of experience.
From what I know of the other branches their JAG programs are closer to the Navy's than to the Marines'. Hope this helps. |
