All future judge advocates must apply for the Professional Recommendation of the Judge Advocate General. Applications are accepted during specific cycles each year, provided in the accessions program page on this website.

If selected, you are recommended to earn a commission with the U.S. Navy. You will have time to decide if you wish to join and move forward with a JAG Corps program. If you accept the commission, you will sign a service agreement and enlisted as an Officer Candidate (E-6). At that time, you will begin to receive military pay, entitlements and allowances. Officer candidates are assigned to local Navy commands until order to Officer Candidate School (OCS) are issued.

• If you were selected under the Student Program, you will complete your law school education, graduate and pass the bar exam before receiving orders to OCS.
• If you were selected under the Direct Appointment Program, you will be provided orders to the next available OCS to begin the training pipeline.

Before becoming a Navy judge advocate, you must become an officer first. You will undergo basic military training alongside other future Navy leaders, including surface warfare officers, pilots, submariners, civil engineering officers and staff corps officers. The completion of OCS in Newport, RI is how a judge advocate earns their commission.

• OCS is a 13-week course of instruction designed to teach, instill and forge new commissioned officers. This training focuses on fundamentals of leadership, military knowledge and the Foundry required create, maintain and sustain warfighters and warfighting. Upon completion and graduation from OCS, candidates earn their commission and become active-duty naval officers.
• Based on the customs and traditions of the naval service, OCS provides physical, academic and skills based trainings. You will be required to march to and from classes, participate in physical fitness training and assessments, and stand personnel and room inspections. Also included is instruction on the basic principles of damage control (firefighting, flood measures, and first aid), Navy administration, and disciplinary measures.
• Upon graduation, you will earn your commission and will be a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG, O-2).

The Naval Justice School (NJS) in Newport, RI provides intensive instruction to officers in the fundamental principles of military justice, civil and administrative law, and procedure, with practical application of those principles.

• NJS students attend the Basic Lawyer Course and, upon successful completion of this course, become certified as Navy judge advocates. The course of instruction is nine-ten weeks and covers civil and military law, as well as intensive trial advocacy training.
• Once you begin active duty at NJS, you will be required to serve four years. After a four-year active duty obligation, your name will remain on a list of inactive reserve officers for four additional years if you choose to leave active duty.

Navy judge advocates become experts in the fields of military law. But what is military law? This practice area is unique to the armed services, as it incorporates military justice and appellate practice (criminal law), administrative and regulatory law, law of the sea, law of armed conflict, personnel and claim law, environmental law, and legal assistance.

Judge advocates are required to be familiar with and obtain professional knowledge on all areas of military law. After certain milestones, judge advocates can specialize in specific career tracks in a specific area – such as National Security Law, Military Justice or Environmental Law.

Learn more about a couple of these different areas below: