CAPT. IRVIN DRUMMOND

My name is Irvin Deandrea Drummond. I am a captain. I went to Boston college law school and came in to the JAG Corps mainly to get some experience in practicing law, experience handling cases–tough cases right away. I also wanted to serve my country.

My most rewarding experience in the JAG Corps has actually been working in the reserve–and just by getting stuff together like the field exercises we did and the prosecutions. The reason why is because in the reserve you're taking a bunch of people, all coming from their very stressful jobs–most of them are attorneys at a big law firms, or prosecutors, or whatever–and they're coming from those jobs after a hard week. (Once they are here) they put together great training–great field exercises or (they) put together a prosecution for some criminal who is also in the reserve. To put that together after going through a hard, you know a 30, 40, 50-hour week–they were great experiences.

I had always said as a civilian prosecutor that I didn't want to handle any sexual abuse cases, I didn't want to handle any rapes, and I didn't want to handle anything with children and you're not given that option here in the JAG Corps. You handle whatever your unit has.

The way that it has made me stronger is that you can't run from the cases that you don't like. You can't run from the things that you don't like. You just have to do it. That, and also the physical stuff, like going to airborne school and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. There is no way I ever thought I would do something like that. But given the opportunity I said, "Well, I might as well try."