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March is always a big month for my office, and this year was no exception. The two big events are our selection boards for Summer Intern applicants and for Active Duty applicants. For the first time, the JAG Corps has chosen its next crop of summer interns using the online application and digital voting process I’ve spent all year helping to get established. It was a suceess! We’ve gotten great feedback from everyone involved and I’m really excited about what this will mean...read more
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It’s been three weeks since I’ve had a chance to write – and even now I feel like I’m not giving you all my attention. Just after Valentine’s Day, I left the family at home for a while and hit the road for my last Field Screening Officer trip. I headed to New York City – my old stomping grounds from law school days – and visited New York University School of Law and Brooklyn Law School. I also spent a full day with the guys at the Army Recruiting...read more
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Usually I try to stay close to the ‘all-JAG, all-the-time’ format for this blog (though I do like to branch out from time to time), but today I’m going all out and giving you a peek into my personal life because I really like Valentine’s Day and I’m really excited about what I’ve got planned for my wife. (And knowing she doesn’t read this means I’m not spoiling any surprises.) As you know, we had our first child last year and he turns 10 months...read more
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It's February so that must mean I've started interviews for our spring selection board. And I have! I spent Wednesday afternoon at Penn State's Dickinson College of Law and yesterday was at Drexel University. While we almost always get great applicants to choose from, I wanted to tell you how impressed I've been with the applicants out of Drexel and with the great program that Drexel offers its students. It is a young school but has still managed to get itself tied tightly to the legal...read more
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For those of you who aren’t keeping up, some folks are actually reading these blog posts, are interested in being Judge Advocates, and have asked me a few pointed questions. Because the answers should be of interest to more than a few people, I’ve giving them here. MAJ Grimes, I have two questions. The first relates to the new on-line application and the second is a bit off point. With respect to the new on-line application: There is a section to upload documents. However, the...read more
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Joy of joys, the JAG Corps now has an online portal for applications to become a Judge Advocate or Summer Intern. I never intended this blog to be a source for such explicit propaganda, but I’ve worked long and hard to make this a reality. And the Army is the first military JAG Corps with such a streamlined application process. I’m proud of all the work that’s gone into it (much of it transparent to the user), but I expect this will make it much easier for folks interested...read more
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I just read an article on the American Bar Association’s online Journal (abajournal.net) about live blogging in-court during sessions on the record. (You can read it here.) I think it’s a great idea with some interesting possibilities and challenges. On the plus side, I think a live outlet for coverage of court-room actions fits right in with our notions of a judicial system open to the public. Like state and federal courts, military courts-martial are open to the public (except...read more
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Well, this week was a turning point in American history. Our nation’s capital – my current hometown – played host to a few million visitors as we celebrated the inauguration of our new Commander-in-Chief. It was a big day. My wife and I skipped it. Instead, we both took a few days off work and headed to Utah for a little skiing. But before you think we’re made of money, I’ll tell you we crashed at a rented condo with her parents. It was a great trip. We were...read more
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What would the Army be without a little hierarchy? Today I’m going to give you a taste the one I live under, and I’m starting with my boss, the Chief of the Judge Advocate Recruiting Office, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Paulette Burton. As many of us do, LTC Burton spends a good deal of time on the phone, talking with newly-accepted Judge Advocates and with peers throughout the JAG Corps. What she doesn’t like to do (as noted in the quote that heads this entry) is be the...read more
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As a Recruiting Officer for the JAG Corps, I get a lot of questions. Here is the second in an ongoing series of answers to some common questions. Today's question: "Where will I be assigned?" This is one of my favorite questions to answer because people general like what we've got to say. Unlike many other service Judge Advocates, the Army will give you your assignment before you incur any commitment to serve. That may not sound like a...read more
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Profile
Benjamin Grimes
| Affiliation: | Active Duty |
|---|---|
| Rank: | Major |
| Branch: | Judge Advocate General |
| MOS/AOC: | JAG Corps Attorney/27A |
| Location: | Tacoma, WA |
| Hometown: | York |
About Me:
MAJ Grimes has been in the Army since graduating from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1996, spending his first 4 years in service as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot before being selected to attend law school under the Funded Legal Education Program.
Since graduating from New York University School of Law, MAJ Grimes has served as an Administrative Law Attorney, Trial Counsel (Prosecutor) and Senior Trial Counsel, Brigade Legal Adviser, Trial Defense Counsel, and Judge Advocate Recruiting Officer. After earning his LL.M. from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center & School, he was assigned as the Senior Defense Counsel for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state.
His previous assignments include Fort Rucker (Alabama), South Korea, Fort Campbell (Kentucky), Germany, Fort Myer (Virginia) and Washington, D.C., and deployment to Iraq as the Senior Trial Counsel for Multi-National Corps -- Iraq. MAJ Grimes is married and has two children.
Since graduating from New York University School of Law, MAJ Grimes has served as an Administrative Law Attorney, Trial Counsel (Prosecutor) and Senior Trial Counsel, Brigade Legal Adviser, Trial Defense Counsel, and Judge Advocate Recruiting Officer. After earning his LL.M. from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center & School, he was assigned as the Senior Defense Counsel for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state.
His previous assignments include Fort Rucker (Alabama), South Korea, Fort Campbell (Kentucky), Germany, Fort Myer (Virginia) and Washington, D.C., and deployment to Iraq as the Senior Trial Counsel for Multi-National Corps -- Iraq. MAJ Grimes is married and has two children.
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