Airman receives top honors from American Bar Association

by Capt. Amy Cooper
3rd Air Force-United Kingdom

8/12/2010 - ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (AFNS) -- The 3rd Air Force-United Kingdom director of legal services here was named the top Air Force judge advocate by officials from the American Bar Association.

Col. James Durant III accepted the 2010 Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate Award from Lt. Gen. Richard C. Harding, the Air Force Judge Advocate General, during the ABA's annual meeting Aug. 6, at the Marine Memorial Club in San Francisco.

According to the ABA's website, the award is presented annually by the organization's Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law to a judge advocate from each service who demonstrates "excellence in service to the legal profession in the armed service," and provides service to the community.

"I'm humbled to receive such an honor," Colonel Durant said. "But I know that we are not an accumulation of our achievements, but we're products of our relationships, good and bad."

Before coming to 3rd AF-UK, Colonel Durant was the deputy department head and assistant professor of law at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. There, he led 17 law professors teaching 4,120 lessons to 1,834 cadets.

"I think he's done a fantastic job his entire career," said Col. Paul Pirog, an Academy legal department permanent professor and department head. "He did a super job as the deputy department head."

While he was an Academy professor, Colonel Durant took the time to help cadets outside the classroom by serving as a legal advisor for cadet honor boards and on the military review committee, Colonel Pirog said. But he also helped them on a more personal level.

"He did a lot of mentoring for a number of cadets," Colonel Pirog said. "He was a great role model for many of them as well."

Colonel Durant's 19-year Air Force career has taken him around the world and given him a taste of nearly every aspect of the JAG career field. Besides teaching future Air Force officers, Colonel Durant co-authored a Guantanamo Bay detainee policy letter. Additionally, he wrote an eight-page legal authority used by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to negotiate the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty with Russia.

In 2006, he deployed to NATO headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he led Soldiers on seven urban assault missions in the city, negotiating entry for the teams and ensuring human rights were accorded to the detainees.

The ABA award represents his career coming almost full circle, Colonel Durant said. In 2000, he received the ABA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for the Air Force, an award that recognizes the achievements of junior judge advocates.

Despite all of his professional accomplishments, Colonel Durant said he takes pride in giving back to the legal and local communities.

"What is life worth living if you cannot improve upon it for others to come," he said, quoting Sir Winston Churchill, the World War II-era British prime minister.

One of the ways Colonel Durant gives back to his profession is by serving as the chair of ABA's General Practice, Solo and Small Firm division. He was elected by his peers for the position and is the first active-duty military member to hold it.

"The job is unique," Colonel Durant said. "We represent 60 percent of America's lawyers."

The colonel also hopes that his achievement and those of others like him will inspire the young men and women in San Bernardino, Calif., his hometown.

"My mother raised five kids on a schoolteacher's salary," the colonel said. "I hope that a young man or a young woman from my hometown will look at this achievement and know you don't have to be raised with a golden spoon in your mouth to be successful."