Minnesota JAG officers prepare for Iraq deployment

Posted: 1:00 am Mon, January 26, 2009
By Michelle Lore

When Minnesota Army National Guard JAG Officer Darrin Rosha departs next month for a yearlong deployment in Iraq, he’ll be leaving behind a thriving law practice, a pregnant wife and his spot in the country rock band he started four years ago.

Rosha — who’ll be serving as chief of operations law for the 34th Infantry Division in southern Iraq — nonetheless remains upbeat, honored to be part of the mission and convinced he’ll gain professionally from the experience.

“Obviously I have a certain amount of apprehension about departing. There are a lot of things that I will miss terribly,” Rosha told Minnesota Lawyer. “But by the same token, I am extremely proud to serve with the Minnesota Guard and I’m extremely proud of our nation’s defense. I’m excited about that part of it. … And I also understand from my predecessors in that role that it’s one of the most amazing professional experiences an attorney can have.”

Rosha is one of a dozen local JAG officers who will deploy to Iraq after two months of stateside training in Fort Lewis, Wash. The group includes small-firm lawyers, full-time JAG attorneys, a prosecutor, an assistant commerce commissioner and even a District Court judge who was appointed to the bench less than a year ago.

Like Rosha, they too are honored to be part of the mission but exhibit some anxiety about leaving their loved ones.

“The biggest challenge that I anticipate is being away from my family,” said assistant Hennepin County attorney Jennifer Beck-Brown, who is leaving behind her husband, 13-year-old daughter, 6-year-old son and baby. “Keeping in touch with them and staying connected with them [won’t be easy]. Everything else is doable.”

Military justice

While looking forward to the experience, Hennepin County District Court Judge Fred Karasov acknowledged that the timing of his deployment could have been better.

“I haven’t even been here for a year yet, so I kind of feel like this wasn’t probably the best time for me to go, but it wasn’t my [call],” he said.

Prior to joining the bench, Karasov spent 25 years as a prosecutor for the county — experience that will prove beneficial to his job in Iraq as chief of military justice. As the lead prosecutor for a division responsible for 16,000 soldiers in four brigades, he’ll be advising commanders and staff on issues like whether to prosecute, the level at which to prosecute and what charges should be brought.

“[It’s] like we would in any criminal case here,” he said.

Unlike small-firm practitioners who have to wind up their law practices, there isn’t a lot Karasov can do to prepare for his departure.

“I’m really lucky. If there is such a thing as a good job to do this from, I have it,” he said, explaining that most his work involves moving from court to court hearing criminal cases. “They just plug me out and someone else’s name in.”

Nonetheless, Karasov is acutely aware of the pressure his departure puts on other judges and the court in general, especially at a time when it’s struggling with its budget.

“The good news is that this is the biggest county in the state so … the other judges can absorb my absence easier than other counties or districts,” he said. “On the other hand, everyone is working really hard and even one judge being gone is still a [disruption]. … It adds on more work for other people and that’s tough for them.”

Beck-Brown will be a member of Karasov’s military justice team. She’s been on Hennepin County’s property crime unit for two years now, prosecuting felony theft cases such as embezzlement and identity theft. For the past several months, she’s been working hard to close as many of her current files as possible, primarily to ease the burden on her replacement.

“I really like my job here, and I’m not looking forward to leaving it,” she recently told Minnesota Lawyer.

At the same time, however, Beck-Brown is convinced that she’ll grow professionally through her experience in Iraq, where her primary responsibility will be to prosecute crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and advise commanders on how to handle alleged incidents of wrongdoing.

“The job itself is going to be the most exciting part of it because I get to go over there and I get to prosecute. … So I think on a professional level I am going to get a lot out of this deployment,” she said.

But Beck-Brown doesn’t intend to be all work and no play, and fully expects to keep up at least one of her hobbies while she’s away — running.

“Our military justice team is already talking about starting to train for a marathon right away, because they have marathons over there. … Actually that is one of the things that’s fun about being with a group of military people — being fit is on the front of everybody’s minds, so there’s always a group of people to go running with or go to the gym with.”

Operations law

As a civil practitioner, Rosha’s role in Iraq will be quite different from that of those working in military justice. He and his staff will be responsible for assisting the local government in serving its population and ensuring that the United States complies with its status of forces agreement with Iraq.

According to Rosha, it’s important that they respect the legitimate government of Iraq and try to be an asset to the government as opposed to an occupying force.

“We are there to make sure we are operating legally and beneficially,” he said. “From a practitioner’s standpoint it really is a very unique experience.”

In winding down his law practice over the past several months, Rosha’s main concern has been that his clients are well served and don’t experience a drop in the quality of their representation. To that end, he’s been diligently seeking qualified attorneys who can take over his ongoing client matters.

“This is the second time I’ve done this,” he said, explaining that several years ago he dissolved his law practice in anticipation of a combat deployment to Iraq that fell through. “It’s a lot of work.”

St. Paul attorney Gregory Uhl can relate. Five years ago he shut down his law firm prior to leaving for a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, where he served as chief of military justice. In Iraq, however, Uhl will be working in the civil arena, primarily in administrative and fiscal contract law, but also in areas like ethics and environmental law.

“There re going to be so many areas that I am responsible for that keeping on top of all that will be challenging,” he said. “I’ll be flipping different hats on depending on the situation.”

Family matters

While the JAG officers are proud to serve th
eir country and look forward to gaining unique professional experiences, the thought of uprooting their law practices and leaving their families is bound to evoke some emotion.

Karasov is leaving his wife of two years, his daughter and four stepchildren. “It’s a really important mission, so that’s why I’m looking forward to doing it,” he said. “The mixed feeling part of it is that … I’m not happy about being gone from my family for that long.”

Unlike most, Uhl won’t be leaving his entire family — his wife is also being deployed. He’s fairly sure they’ll be stationed on the same base, but can’t say exactly what the situation will be once they arrive. The couple’s two young children will be staying with Uhl’s brother and sister.

“I’m honored to be a part of the mission, it’s historic. But it’s not easy with a family,” he said.

Rosha acknowledged that spending a year away from the comforts of home will also be a test.

“It’s always difficult to be half a world away for an extended period of time without a lot of the amenities that we’re used to on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Those deploying expect to face professional challenges as well.

Rosha pointed out that from an operational standpoint the JAG officers have a lot of legal training and experience but in a very different context, which means they’ll need to learn the Iraqi legal system. And because they don’t speak the language in which that system operates, they’ll need to use interpreters.

“[The challenge] will be doing all of these things and learning all of these things while operating within the military structure,” said Rosha. “It has its own language and its own processes that are unique and distinct from the civilian context in which we all practice back here in Minnesota.”