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Judged The Best

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931 ARG Public Affairs
McConnell AFB, Kan. --  Sometimes you have to take the good news with the bad. First, the good.

Lt. Col. DeAnn Lehigh, the 931st's Staff Judge Advocate, has been named the Air Force's Outstanding Reserve Judge Advocate of the Year.

Colonel Lehigh earned the annual honor with a resume that included, among other accolades, a "superior performer" designation from a unit compliance inspector and a short-notice tour in Iraq in 2006.

Much of what she was judged on was her success as the leader of a Joint Task Force legal team at Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq. She was charged with oversight for every aspect of legal proceedings relating to all detainee operations within Iraq. It was, at first, an overwhelming and "exhausting" task. "It was like drinking from a fire hose," she said.

The first step toward success, she said, was to start thinking like a soldier at war. Enemy tracer fire came into the camp her first night there. Three days prior, she was sitting at home with her family. "It's so surreal," she said.

The next step involved something she had little control of, getting a good staff. She was blessed, nonetheless. "I had some really sharp JAGs and paralegals," she said.

Her staff credited their success to her being the "dam" that stopped minutia from coming down the proverbial hill above and slowing their work. Colonel Lehigh credited her "dam" abilities to her 20 years in the Air Force. From her beginnings as an enlisted admin troop, to being the only weapons safety officer in AFRC, she has had plenty exposure to people and the multiple personalities that make up a deployed environment.

Colonel Lehigh went to law school about the same time she started her Air Force career. But she didn't become a JAG until she was ready for a change from her executive officer position for a wing in California in 1999.

"'You know, I have this law degree,'" she said to her husband. "Maybe I should use it."

Colonel Lehigh has since made many friends in the JAG corps, which was a big reason she volunteered for four months in Iraq. She raised her hand to go, she said, because her family situation was better suited for a deployment than her friends.'
"For a long time I felt a desire to do something," she said.

Now, for the bad news.

Well, bad news for the 931st, good news for Colonel Lehigh. She has switched units and her talents will soon be serving the Group's parent unit, the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. The 507th not only offers her more opportunities, it is closer to her home near Little Rock, Ark.

Don't say goodbye to her just yet though. AFRC's JAG of the Year plans to split her training weekends between McConnell and Tinker until the 931st finds her replacement. Until then, she's been reminding Group members she is just a Blackberry message away.