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An unprecedented number of IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law students in the Class of 2019 have been accepted into the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, the legal branch of the military.

In a typical year, a single IU McKinney Law student might apply and be accepted to any branch of the armed forces’ highly selective JAG Corps programs. This year, IU McKinney Law third-year students Jessica Ayer (U.S. Coast Guard), Haley Roach (U.S. Army), Eric Trudrung (U.S. Air Force) and Garrett Welch (U.S. Air Force) will be commissioned as officers this spring.  

“It is unusual,” said IU McKinney Adjunct Professor Anthony Green, ’04, said, citing the extensive application and interviewing process for the JAG Corps. “Four is a big number.”

Several of the students cited Green, a decorated Air Force veteran who has taught courses in military law at IU McKinney since 2009, as an important influence during law school.

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served as an Air Force pilot for 11 years before leaving active duty in 2000 to enter law school. He has 15 years of experience as a JAG lawyer, including the last five years as State Judge Advocate with the Indiana Air Guard. In addition to teaching at IU McKinney, he is Chief Legal and Compliance Officer for the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS). He previously practiced law for Barnes and Thornburg, LLP.

 “I’ve met with lots of students to lay out the route for applying to the JAG Corps, but nothing is ever guaranteed,” Professor Green said. “It’s hard to point to any single factor among applicants, other than the determination to be more competitive, and the commitment to serve something bigger than themselves.”

Students mention other influences, as well as career goals, in their individual stories:

Jessica Ayer grew up in Fairfax, Va., daughter of active-duty, career Coast Guardsman, with a long family tradition of serving in the military that stretches back to the American Revolutionary War.

She was also inspired by historical sites, such as Yorktown, Va., near her hometown, and the ideals of American freedom they represented. “I decided when I was young I would grow up, I would go to law school,” Ayer said. “As lawyers, we take an oath to support the Constitution. I wanted to take that a step further and serve my country, too.”

After following in another family tradition—earning her undergraduate degree at Franklin College—Ayer started law school at IU McKinney, where she is editor-in-chief of the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review, president of Federalist Society and vice president of the Christian Legal Society.

Over the summer of 2018, Ayer completed a summer internship with the Coast Guard JAG, which helped solidify her career plans. But she didn’t just apply to the Coast Guard. She applied, and was ultimately accepted to the Army, Air Force and Navy JAG programs.

After commissioning, Ayer will attend a five-week officer training course in New London, Connecticut, followed by a ten-week Basic Lawyer Class at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island, before beginning a first assignment of four years of active duty.

Experiential learning at IU McKinney has been “really invaluable,” in helping Eric Trudrung decide to pursue his application to the Air Force JAG Corps.

Trudrung worked in externships at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the Indiana Office of the Attorney General, and, currently, at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency during his final semester. Competing in Moot Court provided more opportunities to learn trial skills, Trudrung says.

“From what I understand of the process, the Air Force JAG Corps considers experience as one factor in selecting candidates,” Trudrung says. “IU McKinney really sets you up to learn as much as you can outside the law school building.”

A graduate of the University of Evansville, Trudrung had an early introduction to military life, raised on U.S. Army bases in Germany, North Carolina and South Carolina during his father’s service. “I always liked the community feel of a base, as well as growing up in Germany and learning a second language,” he says. “It’s really a great opportunity.”

Trudrung participated in the Air Force ROTC program in Bloomington during his last year at IU McKinney, and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in May. While he studies for the bar exam, he will be on inactive “ready reserve” and then will begin active duty later this year.

“I consider myself a patriot,” Trudrung says. “I love the idea of serving my country.”

As an undergraduate at the University of Dayton, Haley Roach became a commissioned officer after completing the Army Reserve Officer Training (ROTC) program, but she deferred her service to attend law school at IU McKinney.

Joining ROTC was “the best decision I ever made, personally and professionally,” Roach said. “But even in high school, I knew that law school was where I ultimately wanted to be.”

As a McKinney student, Roach had several experiences that she believes contributed to her acceptance this year into the U.S. Army JAG Corps. She had externships at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and with Cummins. During the summer of 2018, she worked in the JAG Corps offices at Fort Stewart, Ga., where she assisted defense attorneys.

Professor Green’s military law course also prepared her well, she said.

Roach was accepted into the Army JAG Corps, but she isn’t sure yet where she will be sent after graduating and taking the bar exam. “I am keeping an open mind,” Roach says. “I think I have a better understanding of the commitment thanks to ROTC, and it’s something I really love.”

Garrett Welch began looking into the JAG Corps during his 1L year, when the Office of Career Development sent out an email about military law internships and careers.

The idea was intriguing to Welch because, growing up, his father worked as an FBI agent. “From an early age, I saw the pride he had in his job,” Welch said. “I learned the importance of service to my country.”

The summer after his first year in law school, he was accepted into an internship at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, assisting JAG Corps lawyers with nearly every kind of legal matter, from contracts to torts. The former Indiana University football player found that life on the Air Force base, and the JAG Corps in particular, provided a familiar, team-like atmosphere.

Welch gained further experience as a bailiff in Marion County Civil Court, and in externships in the office of Congresswoman Susan Brooks, ‘85, Barnes & Thornburg, the United States Attorney’s Office, and with U.S. Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker. In 2019, he was an NGO observer at Guantanamo Bay for the Military Commission Observation Project through the IU McKinney Program in International Human Rights Law.

All those experiences, as well as earning an International and Comparative Law Graduate Certificate, were important in bolstering his application. Frank Emmert, John S. Grimes Professor of Law and executive director of the IU McKinney Center for International and Comparative Law, was especially influential, according to Welch.

After graduation from McKinney in May, he will attend the nine-week Commissioned Officer Training program to learn Air Force leadership in 2020 before his four-year active duty commitment begins.

 “Serving in the JAG Corps is a dream job for me,” Welch said. “I’ve been on this track since my first year and am very excited about the opportunity.”