Airman receives top honors from American Bar Association

  • Published
  • By Capt. Amy Cooper
  • 3rd Air Force-United Kingdom Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, United Kingdom --  The 3rd Air Force-United Kingdom director of legal services here was named the top Air Force judge advocate by the American Bar Association.

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

According to the ABA's Web site, 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, USAFA legal department permanent professor and department head. "He did a super job as the deputy department head."

Colonel Durant also provided a bit of comic relief in the disciplined, academic atmosphere.

"He and I would go running outside together on occasion," Colonel Pirog said. "He would tend to see a lot of snakes along the path, causing me to jump a mile in the air. I think most of that was his imagination, or perhaps his comedic nature. He was always a lot of fun to be with."

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 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 Army 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," said Colonel Durant. 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 takes pride 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.

While he was a USAFA 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, said Colonel Pirog. 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."

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 his hometown, San Bernardino, Calif. When he was growing up, however, Colonel Durant had his head in the sky.

"All I wanted to do was fly the C-141," he said. "I was told that becoming an officer was the only way I could do that."

Joining the military was a popular path in the colonel's family. His grandfather enlisted in the Coast Guard at 15 years old. Despite rounding his age up a bit on his enlistment application, his grandfather achieved the service's highest enlisted rank. Colonel Durant's father served in the Air Force as an aircrew member and retired after 20 years.

Colonel Durant would become the family's first officer. He joined the junior ROTC at his high school, and then joined ROTC at Howard University in Washington, D.C., after receiving a trustee's scholarship from the school. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1987.

"I've been in the uniform since I was 14 years old," Colonel Durant said.

Howard University offered him a graduate fellowship to continue his education, and his professional flight plan went from becoming a pilot to practicing law. Colonel Durant received a juris doctor from the school in 1990.

Whenever he returns to his hometown, he takes the opportunity to speak to schools and other groups, hoping to inspire students to reach their own dreams. His message to them is simple.

"Be kind. Be generous. And be honest," said Colonel Durant, speaking words that were passed on to him from his mother.

"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."