A waiver may be authorized. You must submit a letter requesting an age waiver with your application package.

Please see our Tip Sheet for advice on completing and submitting your Photo, Resume, Structured Interview, Transcripts, Employment history, Leadership Involvement, Personal Statement, Adverse Information, and Letters of Recommendation.

We currently have one (1) selection board per year for the Direct Appointment Program held in the Spring. The deadline is typically in February. Please refer to the Direct Appointment Program page for current deadlines.

Yes, as long as your law school was accredited when you graduated.

No. You must have obtained a Juris Doctor from an ABA-approved law school.

No, you are only eligible to apply for the Direct Appointment Program if you are admitted to practice law.

No, unofficial transcripts are sufficient for your application.

Please include a note in the “Remarks” section of your application stating that your law school does not provide student rankings.

Please include a note in the “Remarks” section of your application explaining the lack of LSAT score.

Email all separate letters to navyjagaccessions@us.navy.mil.

You should normally have a letter from your current or most recent employer. If you cannot obtain one, you should explain why in the remarks section of the application.

You only need to include transcripts from undergraduate and graduate institutions that you received a degree from, or where you are currently enrolled.

You are not eligible to apply to either the Student Program or the Direct Appointment Program. For the Student Program, you must not have had an opportunity to take the bar exam—as a JD graduate currently enrolled in an LLM program, you had the opportunity to take the bar exam. For the Direct Appointment program, you must be admitted to practice law.

If you do not take the bar exam until after the selection board deadline, then you should apply via the Student Program.

Please ensure your application account has the following documents uploaded or you have confirmed electronic delivery from a third party: photo, resume, 3-5 letters of recommendation, undergraduate and law school transcripts, proof of bar license, and LSAC score report. If all of these documents are uploaded or you have received confirmation from third-party sources of separate electronic submission, please contact navyjagaccessions@us.navy.mil to verify that we have received all separately-submitted materials.

Results are usually available ten (10) weeks after the application deadline. Your status on the application page will be updated to either “Professionally Recommended” or “Not Professionally Recommended” to indicate your selection. The Navy JAG Corps Facebook and career page pages will also be updated when results are available. If you are professionally recommended, you will be contacted directly via phone and email.

The discussions at selection boards are not allowed to be shared outside of the board proceedings, so specific information pertaining to individuals is not available. Although we have offered a general record review in the past, our resources are such that we cannot continue to offer this service except in unusual circumstances. However, some general factors to keep in mind as part of the selection process:

• We receive hundreds of highly competitive applications each board and have only a limited number of selection quotas available to offer Professional Recommendations to. The selection rate for the Direct Appointment Program continues to hover around 5% for the past 5 years.
• Our board uses a whole person standard, which takes into account academic performance, demonstrated leadership and teamwork, physical fitness, commitment to public service, likelihood of success as a judge advocate, and structured interview feedback.

The decision is yours, but there is no downside to reapplying. Your application will receive a fresh look at each selection board that you are eligible for.

Every applicant is different. However, some general factors to keep in mind as part of our selection process:

• Our board uses a whole person standard, which takes into account academic performance, demonstrated leadership and teamwork, physical fitness, commitment to public service, likelihood of success as a judge advocate, and structured interview feedback.

A "professional recommendation" means the Navy JAG Corps has pre-approved you for acceptance into our community. However, this is only the first step. You must now successfully complete the commissioning process and training pipeline before you begin your first tour of duty as a judge advocate. You should have received notification by telephone or email by now, including a deadline on when you must provide a response accepting or declining the Professional Recommendation. If you accept, you will receive additional information regarding when to expect to be assigned to a Navy recruiter. Upon being assigned a recruiter by Naval Recruiting Command, contact them as soon as possible either by email or by phone. Once you have made contact with your recruiter, you will begin working towards the second step of the process, commissioning. You will meet with your recruiter to fill out initial paperwork and will ultimately be scheduled for a full physical exam at your nearest Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). You will also work with your recruiter to complete the documents necessary for a secret security clearance.

You will work with your local recruiter to begin the commissioning process. The two major components of that process include passing a medical examination and completing all requirements for a secret security clearance.

When you commission varies significantly from person to person. Some individuals are able to commission within a few months of receiving their assigned recruiters and others may take up to a year.

You will begin the training pipeline shortly after you have commissioned.

You will begin receiving pay and benefits upon beginning Officer Development School (ODS). If there is a gap between ODS and Naval Justice School (NJS) you will report to your ultimate duty station to await the start of Naval Justice School (NJS). Once NJS begins, you will report to NJS and upon completion of the school, you will once again report to your ultimate duty station.

Where you are stationed depends on a combination of your requested locations along with the needs of the Navy at the time you graduate Naval Justice School. The detailers will begin working with you a few months out from when you begin ODS to request where you would like to be stationed and you will maintain a close dialogue with them as you begin the training pipeline.

A prior medical condition may delay or potentially halt your commissioning. Further information on how medical conditions may impact your commissioning can be found in the “medical” link under the “Who is Eligible” section here.

Once you are professionally recommended you will work with your local recruiter to complete all required paperwork to obtain a secret security clearance.

Please reach out to navyjagaccessions@us.navy.mil or 202-685-5273 and we would be more than happy to discuss with you further.

The senior detailer will determine whether you need to attend ODS. The factors he/she will consider include the following: how long you have been in the reserves, when and if you served on active duty, and how long ago you served on active duty.

For promotion purposes, you will begin your time as a JAG as a new O-3. You will maintain your time in service for retirement purposes.

Yes, you will be receiving a superseding commission as a JAG and will

Yes, you will attend ODS.

For promotion purposes, you will begin your time as a JAG as a new O-3. You will maintain your time in service for retirement purposes.

Yes, you will need to attend MEPS again as you are receiving a superseding commission into the JAG Corps.

If your schedule permits, the following books are recommended to better prepare you for your time as a judge advocate:

• "The Admirals" by Walter Borneman
• "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing
• "Sea Power" by Admiral James Stavridis
• "The Essential Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison
• "The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork" by John C. Maxwell

These books contain valuable lessons in history, geo-politics, leadership, and perseverance. As the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) notes in the context of his own professional reading program, "[r]emember to never stop striving to expand your mind."