After the JAG Corps: Navigating Your Career Progression

In this episode, Peter Dutton explains how curiosity has taken him from aviation to the JAG Corps to a post-military career as an academic, obtaining his Ph.D and now becoming a member of the Yale Law School Faculty.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” - Yogi BerraIn this episode, we hear from retired Army JAG, Trey Courie, who elected to participate in the deferred resignation program.

In this episode, we listen to Professor James Kraska, retired Navy JAG and current Charles H. Stockton Chair of International Maritime Law and Department Head, Stockton Center for International Law, U.S. Naval War College, talk about his motivation for joining the Navy and his unusual and continuing career progression that has remained center on international security law.

A 1930s Kansas Chamber of Commerce ad claimed, "If there's anything better than life--it's life in Kansas." This week, Nathan Banks proves that! Deciding to retire from Fort Leavenworth, Nate was determined to remain in Kansas because of his kids. He then identified possible jobs and landed one through his ever-expanding network. Nate is on LinkedIn

A lot of factors go into a decision of which job to take after leaving the military. Oftentimes, it may leaving a place that you like. That is the situation that confronted Dan Maurer. At least until it did not.

This week, I catch up with Johnathan Rudy who successfully leveraged his military cyber law practice into civilian gigs, including with Geico where he now works. In this episode he recounts how his own lack of knowledge resulted in both a boot camp and Officer Candidate School experiences, and his journey from active duty Marine to working in the corporate world. John is on LinkedIn.

In this episode, I talk to recently retired United States Marine Colonel John Hackel, who is held in high regard by so many. John began his military career two weeks after graduating from high school as a plebe at the United States Naval Academy and 34 years later, had to chart a new course with his post-military career. As you will hear, John took his time in discerning his way-ahead. You can find John on LinkedIn.

In this episode, Ed White takes us through his decision to retire in 2014, the different post-military legal careers he considered, how he landed at the Department of Justice litigating immigration and national security cases, and his eventual retirement to Spain, where he now lives. Ed is on LinkedIn.

In this episode, I talk to recently retired Navy Captain Mark Holley who retired from the JAG Corps in October 2024 and will soon begin his second career as a Navy OGC attorney in San Diego, CA. However, Mark is not just a lawyer and while he would not consider himself a renaissance man, that he has added the title of playwright to resume places him closer to that category than me. Mark talks about how he got into theater, first as an adult stagehand for his children, to some minor acting, and now to writing a script. Mark is on LinkedIn.

This week, former Navy JAG, Paul Wagoner and I discuss his career progression from the armed services to in-house counsel to his current role as an Executive Coach and Resume specialist focusing on in house counsel through his business, Pathless Coaching. We then focus on the latter endeavors , including the coaching Paul provided to me when I was seeking my first post-Navy legal job. Paul is on LinkedIn.