‘My service made me who I am’
A veteran Army judge advocate teaches Carolina law students how to help former soldiers with legal issues.
A 20-year military veteran, John Brooker ’03 (JD) was finishing an assignment giving legal advice on U.S. Army operations in Africa and southern Europe in 2018 and anticipating his next orders when another mission called.
Martin Brinkley, dean of Carolina’s School of Law, persuaded Brooker to train students to help former service members with legal issues arising from their discharge from service. It’s important work in North Carolina, where 10% of the population is either active or former military.
An expert on how military discharge and court martials affect benefit eligibility, Brooker is visiting director of the school’s Military and Veteran’s Law Clinic Training. He wrote the definitive book about the subject while teaching at the Judge Advocate General School, U.S. Army, in Charlottesville, Virginia, between 2010 and 2013. He also developed classes and instruction methods to help commanders and decision-makers understand the impact of their decisions.
Federal law defines veterans as service members who receive an honorable discharge. Those receiving anything less than an honorable conditions discharge struggle to receive medical care through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, preventing treatment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury. They also are not eligible for retirement or financial benefits.
Students learn legal theory and visit places such as the VA regional office in Winston-Salem, where they meet people to whom they may appeal on a client’s behalf. Then, they jump into real-world practice by representing low-income ex-military who hope to obtain benefits through a discharge reversal.
“The students discover how the power of the law and the advocacy skills they learn can help North Carolinians,” Brooker said.
When his JAG School teaching assignment came, Brooker researched and wrote about discharges. That work continues at Carolina, where his career path as a judge advocate began through the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program.
“My service made me who I am,” he said. “It serves me well here, not only with my clients but as a professor when I connect with students, to educate them and inspire them to make a positive difference.”
Read the stories of other Carolina veterans.
