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AFSOC announces legal awards

  • Published
  • By AFSOC News Service
  • HQ AFSOC/Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla --  The verdict is in: excellence on the job has earned three Air Force Special Operations Command legal professionals the command's 2006 Staff Judge Advocate awards.

Maj. John Gilliland, deputy staff judge advocate at the 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla., garnered the Albert M. Kuhfeld award as AFSOC's outstanding judge advocate. He earned the award, named after a former Judge Advocate General, for his expert legal guidance to special operators while at home station and when deployed.

Commanders cited Maj. Gilliland as a strategic contributor to AFSOC's unique combat aviation advisor squadron, which trains foreign aviation forces to partner with the U.S. in the Global War on Terror. He was also noted for his guidance on sensitive detainee issues and for developing realistic scenarios for JAG FLAG exercises. Maj. Gilliland also taught critical operational law in 11 courses, ensuring students understood legal issues important to special operations.

Master Sgt. Susan Ablett, a paralegal at the AFSOC Judge Advocate Directorate, was awarded the Karen Yates-Popwell Award as the command's outstanding paralegal senior noncommissioned officer. Sergeant Ablett was recognized as an expert in legal research and procured judge advocate rapid deployment kits to give legal professionals in the field improved capabilities.

Her swift and error-free turnaround of critical legal records consistently beat Air Force standards by considerable margins and ensured justice prevailed in sensitive cases. Sergeant Ablett was also heavily involved in Airman welfare and community volunteer efforts, including Operation Warm Heart and Angel Tree. Her award is named after a former senior paralegal manager to the Judge Advocate General.

Technical (now Master) Sgt. Bo Stout, the law office manager at Air Force Special Operations Forces, was honored as AFSOC's outstanding paralegal airman of the year, earning the Steve Swigonski Award. The award is name for the first special assistant for legal Airman affairs to the Judge Advocate General.

Sergeant Stout led Air Education and Training Command's busiest judicial activity while increasing court on-time processing to an unprecedented 100 percent. He was the first enlisted Airman to present status of discipline briefs to his wing leadership, earning accolades. As a result, wing leadership requested he brief 78 unit commanders on disciplinary tools and application.

His knowledge of legal operations led to him being hand-picked to serve as the first-ever AFSOF law office manager. In this capacity, he developed and secured a special operations-specific paralegal tasking and was the first paralegal to deploy with a classified unit.

All three award winners will now compete at the Air Force level.