Air Force JAG, Moot Court, Immigration Detention Center
BYU Law graduating student Karina Osgood is one of approximately fifteen law students across the nation accepted in 2017 to participate in the Air Force ROTC one-year program in preparation to become an Air Force JAG lawyer.
For Osgood, that meant learning in one year what most take four years to learn, while still attending her final year of law school. She also had the opportunity to attend field training, something in which most Air Force JAG lawyers don’t typically participate. This experience gave Osgood a unique perspective on the military and has better prepared her to excel in her various roles in the Air Force.
“After graduation and passing the bar exam, I will go to the Air Force JAG School where I will learn about the Uniform Code of Military Justice in preparation for my first assignment (either stateside or abroad),” Osgood said. “At this point, I intend to pursue a full career in the Air Force JAG Corps, and I will be using my legal training to assist Airmen, participate in court-martials, and work in many other areas of law.”
Osgood has not only excelled in her ROTC training, but has succeeded in a variety of co-curricular activities during her three years at BYU Law. Notably, are her achievements in moot court. She has been a member of the BYU Law moot court team, served on the moot court board, and was a semifinalist in the Rex E. Lee Moot Court Competition.
During Osgood’s time on the moot court team, she had the opportunity to travel and participate in three competitions across the country. “Some of my favorite memories of law school are the moot court trips because of the opportunity I had to get to know my classmates better and to laugh at the strangest things that happened,” she said. “For example, we got lost on the subway twice in New York. [We also] got stuck at a toll road booth while on the way to Notre Dame.”
In addition to moot court, Osgood traveled to Dilley, Texas with a group of fellow law students to volunteer at a detention center to assist asylum seekers. While there, she helped provide legal aid to women and children who had fled their homes and were waiting on the courts to decide on their claims for asylum. Her ability to speak Spanish, something she learned while serving as an LDS missionary in Huancayo, Peru, proved to be an invaluable skill that allowed her to assist these women and children in tough times.
Once she graduates and is commissioned as an Air Force officer, Osgood hopes that she will deploy to Afghanistan, or another zone, where she can gain experience working in operational law. She hopes to one day become a district court judge.
Osgood discusses her time in Dilley, Texas in the video below.
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