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Expeditionary Area Defense Counsel Assist Deployed Airmen

  • Published
  • By Capt. Angela M. Webb
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  When a deployed Airman is suspected of an offense, or received some adverse paperwork, there is support available from the Office of the Expeditionary Area Defense Counsel.

The EADC team, consisting of two attorneys and one defense paralegal, provides legal counsel to all Airmen facing adverse actions within the U.S. Air Forces Central Command's area of responsibility. If an Air Force member faces a court-martial within or around the AOR, the EADC will provide representation to the Airman and will travel in theater to any pre-trial hearing, as well as the trial itself. In addition to traveling for courts-martial, the two expeditionary ADCs also frequently travel around the AOR to different bases to conduct site visits.

"It's important to visit the various locations around the AOR, because even though we can't solicit Airmen to be clients, our visits will show that we are available to assist them if asked," said Capt. Jeff Davis, EADC. "Airmen are conditioned to follow orders and conditioned to answer when asked a question by a superior, so if asked a question that may incriminate the Airman, it's important that he or she knows that one has the right to remain silent and ask for representation."

The EADC does not fall under the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which they are co-located with, or any other deployed wing. This is a common misconception some have, and why some may confuse the EADC with the base legal office. In the process of representing individual Airmen, the EADC may work closely with squadron commanders, first sergeants and wing leadership, but the EADC still falls under a separate chain of command, through the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, which gives them a unique independence.

"Our chain of command is headquartered in Washington D.C. and is completely separate from the chain of command here within the AOR; that allows us to be an independent advisor to those individual Airmen that we represent," said Capt. Tom Alford, EADC. "We also absolutely uphold attorney-client confidentiality; an Airman can walk into my office and tell me he or she has committed a bank robbery, for example, and I can't disclose any of that information because of the attorney-client confidentiality we have."

Although bank robbery is an extreme example, Airmen may be overwhelmed and feel they cannot turn to anyone for help, but that is partly why the office of the area defense counsel was originally formed. For more common issues - such as Articles 15, letters of reprimand or other administrative counselings - the EADC is there to help them too.

"Part of my job is to assist clients with their responses to administrative counselings and non-judicial punishments, and to help them understand the overall process of any given adverse action," said Staff Sgt. Jamie Garris, defense paralegal. "For many, the process can be overwhelming, but we do our best to try to walk them through each step of the process."

While the base legal office provides legal assistance for notaries, divorces, landlord-tenant issues and other civil law issues, the EADC assists military members with interrogations, courts-martial, involuntary discharges, demotions, non-judicial punishment proceedings, referral enlisted and officer performance reports, and various other adverse personnel actions.

For more information, visit the EADC office located in Bldg. 10090 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.