Grissom's legal team gets new leads Published Jan. 8, 2015 By Tech. Sgt. Ben Mota 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Maj. Jeremy Flannery, 434th Air Refueling Wing staff judge advocate and Maj. James Gutzman, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command operating here, recently joined Grissom's legal team. Grissom is made up of two different legal offices with separate responsibilities. The 434th ARW legal team primarily handles military justice issues during unit training assemblies and the Headquarter AFRC SJA provides the base with a full-time JAG throughout the week. Despite the different job responsibilities, both SJAs work together to ensure Grissom's mission continues, said Gutzman. "I'm here to serve the command and serve the people here," he explained. "I want to ensure that everyone is prepared to deploy and their legal needs are met before they leave." Flannery, who also has a master's degree in clinical psychology, has worked in several aspects of the judicial system including military and civilian prosecution, and military defense, he said. "I think I bring a lot of experience on both sides of the legal community as far as prosecution and defense goes," said Flannery. "I've covered every specialty area in the legal office, so I know a little bit about anything and everything." In the legal office "anything and everything" includes powers of attorney, wills, employment rights, and other services. "Our paralegals draft the wills and the JAGs meet with each client to ensure the will reflects the client's desires," Gutzman said. "We want to continue to take care of the Airmen and ensure that all of their needs are met," added Flannery. "We have a lot of resources on base and we want people to know that we are here to assist them." While Flannery and Gutzman both share the mission of meeting the wing's legal needs, their jobs are unique. "Maj. Flannery's responsibilities focus on military justice and ethics while my primary responsibilities involve civilian actions," said Gutzman. Military justice involves working with actions such as letters of counseling and reprimand, administrative discharges, Article 15 punishments, and courts-martial, he explained. The civil law portion includes working with claims, contracts, and union issues. Another distinction between the two is that Gutzman belongs to the regular Air Force while Flannery is a traditional reservist and works full time as a trial attorney specializing in bankruptcy law and enforcement for the U.S. Trustee's Office. Just as the JAGs' military status affects their jobs, so does an Airman's military status with the legal processes, explained Gutzman. "The reserve dynamic is unique for active duty JAGs," he said. "This is the first time I regularly had to ask what someone's status was before advising command on appropriate actions." Despite the differences, Gutzman said he's no stranger to both dynamics of the reserve and regular Air Force. Gutzman has approximately 21 years of total service, first as an enlisted communications specialist, then as a space officer, and now as an attorney. Out of those 21 years, approximately 10 have been active duty. Likewise, Flannery also has 13 total years of service, with five of those years served on active duty. While on active duty Flannery worked in the base legal office at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, before becoming the installations area defense counsel. In addition to their military experience, both JAGs said they are excited to be at Grissom and enjoy the small-town family environment. "I'm a family guy; I have kids and grandkids, so the family aspect about Grissom is one thing that I like," said Flannery. "Almost everyone that I have met is family oriented, and they bring that to the work-place." "My family likes the small town feel of Kokomo and the Midwest," Gutzman echoed. "That small town feel is also reflected at Grissom." Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as three Army Reserve units. Airmen, Soldiers and Marines routinely deploy from Grissom around the world in support of the Department of Defense mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
