Local woman makes Navy JAG history

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/news/article/Local-woman-makes-Navy-JAG-history-9676931.php

Y.C. Orozco Published 9:00 am, Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Bay Area resident Stacy Saxon recently realized “a dream come true” and managed to make history in the process.

In June, Saxon, a 2015 graduate of the South Texas College of Law/Houston, was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps. She also became the first student in the 92-year-old law school to earn acceptance to the JAG Corps programs of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. (Only seven percent of all applicants are selected to become JAG officers.)

In May, in front of her parents and South Texas President and former judge advocate general of the U.S. Navy Dean Donald J. Guter, Saxon was sworn into the State Bar of Texas by her law professor, Geoffrey S. Corn, a former U.S. Army JAG officer who retired in 2004 as a lieutenant colonel.

Corn and Guter are both credited by Saxon as mentors in her journey both during law school and in her applying for the competitive U.S. Navy JAG Corps.

“Professor Corn played a large role in my desire to become a U.S. Navy judge advocate,” said Saxon. “He told us that everything we did as students directly impacted our ability to advocate for future clients. I work to keep that mindset as I complete my military training. Giving 100 percent now will enable me to be the best advocate I can be for sailors and Marines down the road.”

Corn, whose 22-year military career includes serving as the Army’s senior law of war expert advisor and tactical intelligence officer of a parachute infantry unit in Panama, praised Saxon’s integrity as an alumnus of South Texas College and predicted a bright future.

“Stacy epitomizes the intelligence and tenacity characteristic of a judge advocate,” he said. “She brings honor and pride to South Texas College of Law/Houston, her family, and her country. It was my great privilege to swear this outstanding alumna and future legal and military leader into the State Bar of Texas.”

Saxon, who graduated from the Navy’s Officer Development School in Newport, Rhode Island, will enter JAG training at the Naval Justice School in January on the same base.

Once she completes the 10-week training, Saxon will be certified to practice law as a judge advocate in the Navy and will be stationed in San Diego for two years.

Fulfilling her “dream come true” to join the military and serve her country, Saxon used her legal skills while at South Texas College by serving as a founding student volunteer in the law school’s student volunteer pro bono Veterans Clinic. In that role, Saxon recruited local veterans who could benefit from the program’s legal services and wrote discharge and reenlistment code upgrades for clients.

While completing a legal internship at the Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office, Saxon also volunteered with the national Wills for Warriors program, which assists veterans in establishing and maintaining wills.

As a U.S. Navy JAG attorney, Saxon looks forward to bringing that same passion for service to others to her new role, something she credits her parents for instilling in her.

“My parents have always been the hardest-working people I know, and yet they still make time to help others,” she said. “It makes sense that I would pursue law as a career, because I was brought up to take care of the little guy and do all you can to help people. I’m very grateful for the chance to do just that as an officer in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps.”