Paralegal AIT course begins at Fort Lee

By Amy PerryApril 4, 2012

Paralegals at Fort Lee
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEE, Va. (April 4, 2012) -- Fort Lee's newest military occupational specialty producing school started training March 26 in the trailers near the Aerial Delivery and Field Services Department building.

With the 27 Deltas, or paralegals, being trained here, the Judge Advocate General Corps has officially moved all of its training operations to Virginia.

While two classes are still finishing up in Fort Jackson, S.C., Fort Lee instructors are taking advantage of the close proximity to their other training locations -- such as the JAG Legal Center and School, said Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Castle, paralegal instructor.

"We have more opportunities to train here," said Castle. "We can train with the NCO Academy from Charlottesville and the new lieutenants in the JAG Corps. We have combined training that will give them a better view of the overall picture. They will be able to interact with each other and talk about experiences so the Soldiers will know why they are learning what they are learning."

Another positive change over Fort Jackson is that the company here only consists of paralegals.

"Our company at Fort Jackson was not all 27 Deltas, so our first sergeant and commander were from different MOSs," said Castle. "Here, we have more control over content and proponent agency. And the 244th Quartermaster Battalion and 23rd Quartermaster Brigade have been accommodating to meet our training needs."

This change ensures that within the company, the Soldiers are learning skills that are more unique to their career field. The 27 Delta course here runs for 10 weeks and three days. The next class is set to start early next week. Overall, 120 students can be accommodated, with a maximum of 30 and a minimum of 20 students per class.

Pvt. Jens Richards, one of the advanced individual training students in the first class, said his fellow classmates are enthusiastic to be part of the inaugural paralegal course at Fort Lee.

"Everyone is really buying into the fact that we are the first and we're excited to be here," said Richards.

So far, the class has had a JAG Corps member from Fort Lee to teach a block of instruction, and the students are excited about the potential for more, said Pvt. Jordan Gremillion.

"It's awesome -- everyone is pumped up," Gremillion said. "All the instructors are making a big deal about it. They said they have been pushing for the AIT to be in Virginia for so long because this is the home for of the JAG Corps. It's a big deal that we are the first class."