[blindlaw] When do I act on my plan?

[Dittman, Robert]

Mr. Tolentino,

I have not been on active duty or the reserves nor the National Guard, I have, as an Auxiliarist, completed basic military training through the Coast Guard in the Reserve Enlisted Basic Indoctrination course in 2003 with sighted recruits.  I have also completed some Reserved Officer Training Courses again with Sighted Cadets.

As a lawyer I will undergo the Justice school (this is just to teach me the basics of military law), and there are some basic officer school requirements.  For many it is just stuff like uniform ware, drill, ranks and rates, basic skills to transition someone from civilian life to life as a uniformed member.  These skills I already have a command of.  My experiences and schools that I have completed such as the Leadership and Management school where I graduated and was also assigned as an instructor, Instructor development school as well as my time assigned to duty on board the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas should provide an argument that I am able to function in an operational military environment because I have been doing so in an unpaid status for years.


I would also argue that because I am currently working assigned to the Legal assistance office, as an Auxiliarist, expected to conduct myself the same way reservists are that there is little that any service would have to teach me and that my prior experience should provide waverable material.  Many services have such a provision.

Does this help?


Robert D. Dittman
Student Attorney
St. Mary's University, Center for Legal and Social Justice (Civil Clinic)
2507 N.W. 36th Street
San Antonio, TX  78228-3918
Phone: (210) 431-5760  fax: (210) 431-5700
Email: rdittman at mail.stmarytx.edu

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-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aser Tolentino
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 1:27 PM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Cc: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] When do I act on my plan?

Hi Robert,
When you say uniformed service, do you mean you are prior service? The reason I ask is that if I'm not mistaken, you'd otherwise have to attend the officer basic course for any service you were commissioned into. Even if medically cleared, the curriculum of such courses present tasks that I think would offer serious obstacles. I recall even the Attorney General's letter issuing guidance on hiring of people with disabilities seemed to include language deferential to such requirements.

Respectfully,
Aser Tolentino, Esq.

On Feb 29, 2012, at 10:28 AM, "Dittman, Robert" <rdittman at stmarytx.edu> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> As many of you may remember, I am a 3l at St. Mary's University School of Law, and a Student Attorney at the Clinic here at the law school as well as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist currently assigned to the District legal office as a "legal assistance clerk.  I am due to complete my legal studies December 2012, and will sit for the Texas Bar Exam February 2013.
> 
> I have been very public in my desire to potision each armed service, the Congress, or the President to authorize me to accept a reserve commission into the Armed forces to serve as a JAG officer.  My question is when do I pull the trigger as it were, and how can I rally allies and supporters to this cause?  I need help as I am too emotionally connected to the case to represent myself.  The old saying a person who represents themselves has a fool for a client is true in this case.
> 
> I know the statutes authorizing a waiver, and can demonstrate my uniformed experiences spanning the last sixteen years.  I can also show that I meet all qualifications other than the medical requirement of vision, or will meet them after I pass the bar exam.  If I were sighted, I would be able to apply now as a 3L.
> 
> I guess the biggest issue is that if I have to litigate this case, it will cost loads of funds and would there be any interest in assisting me in this cause?  The basic premise is that if a I meet all requirements to serve as a JAG officer, and other persons who are physically blind have been determined to be fit for duty, then they should not be able to disqualify me on that basses without a full review of the circumstances.
> 
> In short, they do not have to let me in, but they must find another reason rather than blindness to keep me out.
> 
> I can apply now as a 3l, and I know that these things will take time.  So, I need some guidance as to how to proceed.
> 
> Looking forward to your advice and guidance.
> Robert D. Dittman
> (210) 389 3388
> rdittman at mail.stmarytx.edu<mailto:rdittman at mail.stmarytx.edu>
> 
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