Marine Officer - Capt Bart Slabbekorn

<span> <p> <img style="float: none;" src="http://assets2.marines.com/assetmgr/image/disp/inline/size/460x259/id/4360" alt="Capt Bart Slabbekorn <br /> Judge Advocate" /><h2>Becoming a Marine Officer</h2>Slabbekorn1BecomingAnOfficer 1:17<br /> <br /> Capt Bart Slabbekorn:<br /> I´ve been one of those lucky people that have always known that I wanted to be an attorney. I wanted to be a trial lawyer since I was probably 14 years old. When I was in high school, my mom was a high school guidance counselor and one of the things that we looked at was the Marine ROTC scholarship. So I went down to talk to a recruiter about that specific option and he said, "You know, there´s a different way to get into the Marine Corps other than ROTC or a scholarship." And the, what he was trying to tell me about was joining the Marine Corps Reserve and being a Reserve Marine through college and then going through the commissioning program on the backend of that. I thought that was,-that appealed to me. So I joined and was in the delayed-entry program for a while and then I shipped out to Parris Island as soon as I graduated from high school.<br /> <br /> When I finished Parris Island and infantry training at the School of Infantry, then I came back to Tennessee and began college. My second summer of college I went through the Platoon Leaders Class, combined course, the 10-week course, and then as soon as I graduated from UT is when I, is when I was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant.<br /> <br /> I knew from everyone that I spoke to that being a Marine Judge Advocate was gonna give me the most courtroom experience early, you know, the most exposure to relatively big cases for my peer group early on in my career.<br /> <hr /><h2>Providing Legal Aid in Iraq</h2>Slabbekorn2MOSJudgeAdvocate :59<br /> <br /> Capt Bart Slabbekorn:<br /> One of the most important, if not "the" most important mission that we have as Judge Advocates is to provide legal assistance, because that allows the Marine to focus on his mission, allows him to focus on staying safe in the combat zone so that he doesn´t have to worry about getting divorced. He doesn´t have to worry about getting sued. He doesn´t have to worry about filing his taxes.<br /> <br /> The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force went to Iraq last January and I went with them and we were there to make sure that all the operations went off without a hitch and to provide legal advice and legal counsel to all the commanders and the Marines that were there with the MAGTF. We flew all over Iraq to have hearings in conference rooms, in you know, SWA huts and whatever else we could find, trying to get to the Marines that needed legal assistance, missions, a divorce issue or a commercial law issue that you have to help him deal with. We made sure that we got out there to them so that we could support the effort, the war fighting effort.<br /> <hr /><h2>Practicing Law with Marine Corps Integrity</h2>Slabbekorn3BeingAnOfficer 1:38<br /> <br /> Capt Bart Slabbekorn:<br /> Officers are the leaders that are gonna be doing the planning and the research and the thinking of the broad concepts. Your enlisted Marines are gonna be the executers, the guys that are really getting the job done. That´s kind of a little bit flipped on its ear in the Judge Advocate community because the legal field is about attorneys and attorneys are officers in the military. But, if we didn´t have our clerks, if we didn´t have our enlisted Marines, our court reporters, our researchers, our paralegals, our senior leadership in the, in the enlisted side, we wouldn´t be successful, because it´s all of their hard work that allows us to go into court prepared and to do all the heavy lifting that has to be done to be successful.<br /> <br /> What the Marine Corps is gonna offer you is a challenge. You´re gonna get an opportunity to see how good you are. Eight days after I was - stepped on deck here to be a defense counsel, I got detailed a very complex federal computer case. And that challenged me from the day that I got here. And if you demonstrate that you´ve got that ability to accomplish what the Marine Corps needs you to do, the Marine Corps is gonna, you know, pay you back. They´re gonna give you an opportunity to get more education, to get greater responsibility, to get more opportunities.<br /> <br /> The Marine Corps offers continuing educational programs for Judge Advocates to allow them to go get graduate law degrees, LLM degrees and the Marine Corps is gonna pay for that if you can get selected for those programs. So no matter what the future holds, there´s plenty of opportunities out there, which you know, the Marine Corps is great about offering opportunities. You, you just have to look through them all and figure out what´s right for you.<br /> <hr /> </p> </span>

What the Marine Corps is going to offer you is a challenge. You’re going to get an opportunity to see how good you are.
—Capt Bart Slabbekorn

Enlisted Reserve Duty: 1999
Commissioned: 2001
Commissioning Program: Platoon Leaders Class
Education: University of Tennessee

From age 14, Captain Bart Slabbekorn knew he wanted to be a lawyer. While attending college, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and then continued his career after graduation as a Staff Judge Advocate in the Marine Corps.

In 2008, Capt Slabbekorn deployed with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He was responsible for providing legal aid to all Marines in Al Anbar, the largest province in Iraq. By addressing the Marines’ legal needs, Slabbekorn helped them focus on their mission.

With many opportunities available, Slabbekorn is looking forward to the rest of his Marine Corps career in either criminal law, environmental law or as a Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the 1st Marine Division.

Marines. The Few. The Proud.

Capt Bart Slabbekorn
Judge Advocate

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Marines. The Few. The Proud.

Capt Bart Slabbekorn Judge Advocate

Related Pages

Capt Bart Slabbekorn
Judge Advocate