After the JAG Corps: Navigating Your Career Progression

As a U.S. Army Soldier, Selfless Service was one of the core values instilled into Glenn Hardwood. His decision to run for the District Attorney for Midland County, Texas, demonstrates that while an individual can easily leave military service, foregoing these core values is not. In this episode, Glenn takes us through the challenges of trying to land his desired job with a U.S. Attorney while stationed in Germany, doing so only a week before his PCS], and then after almost seven years, walking away from this job because Glenn believed he could make a difference to his community by running for elected office as the local DA. After successfully winning the election, Glenn then relied on his military experience to build an office and lay the groundwork for attracting new talent and professionally developing them to become effective prosecutors in serving their constituents.

By any account, Frank "Max" Wood has had a successful and varied legal career. From judicial clerk to active duty Air Force JAG serving in Wyoming, the Philippines, and Texas, to then serving as a prosecutor, U.S. Attorney, Georgia's Chief Administrative Law Judge, and Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among others, and continued service in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, it has been a career of public service. In this episode, Max shares his journey .

This week, I talk with Bill Rogers, who has a very diverse legal career: civilian practice, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, government servant, general counsel, advisor, BnB owner/operator, back to private practice, and farmer. In light of that, the title of this podcast is a hat tip to the Grateful Dead.

This week, a conversation with former Navy judge advocate Rachel Reddick whose post military career has included a brush with political office, service with Military Commissions Defense Office, a move across country, the California bar exam, a stint as an employment lawyer, and now as an attorney with an Investigations firm.

In this episode, Rachel Flannery, U.S. Army Reserve, takes us through her career progression from the Active Component to a career as a National Security Attorney at the Department of Homeland Security, via Georgetown and an LLM, in pursuit of her goal to "Pivot With Intention."

In this episode, we hear from Shelby Hladon whose desire to spend more time with her sons has led to a post-military career as a volunteer, especially when it comes to youth and veterans.

In this episode, I talk to Matthew Dursa, former Navy JAG, about his journey in overcoming a tendency to overthink things, which he shares in his new book, “Reading This Book Won’t Help You: Doing the Work Will.” A copy can be purchased on Amazon at https://a.co/d/a8AQUDN.

As a probationary employee with the Navy Office of General Counsel in 2025, Joe was informed he would likely be laid off as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to curb the size of the Federal Government. When offered deferred resignation, Joe saw it as an opportunity to join private practice to enable him to return to doing the things he enjoyed doing as a Marine Corps JAG, including Legal Assistance and Litigation. In this episode, Joe takes us through his journey, including waving into the Virginia bar. Joe mentions a few of Slack-type groups that he finds helpful, including:​ LawyerSmack (sidebar.net), a private community for attorneys interested in discussing practice-related issues with their peers in real time. ($199/year);​ Best Era (https://bestera.com/)($365/year). ​ InnerCircle (inner circle.ernietheattorney.net/feed), which deals with legal tech issues.

On July 3, 3021, A. Williams sat down with me (via Zoom) to talk about her decision to transfer from the active component of the U.S. Army, and the importance of networking and doing your research as you pursue a job outside of the military. Additionally, as the Executive Director of the Judge Advocates Association, Amanda talked about the annual Jobs for JAGs workshop (which was just held this month) as well as the resources and networking opportunities with the American Bar Association.

In this episode, I talk to Dough Moquet who left the Air Force after 10 years to return home to Connecticut, where he was successfully leveraged his experiences as an Air Force JAG to land his current gig.

LTC(Ret) Steve Levin takes us through his career on active duty and as a member of the Army Reserve, working in two U.S. Attorney offices, as a partner in small firms, and as an associate in a medium sized firm, and finally working in big law.

This week, I talk to Hugo Teufel who joined the Army National Guard as a judge advocate while working as an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security. After the ANG, Hugo made the move to the corporate world, first with Raytheon and now with Lumens.