{"id":187492,"date":"2024-05-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=187492"},"modified":"2024-05-28T02:18:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T02:18:52","slug":"camp-zama-legal-assistance-office-earns-army-level-award-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=187492","title":{"rendered":"Camp Zama Legal Assistance Office earns Army-level award again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n 1 \/ 2<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Kent Herring, left, chief of the Camp Zama Legal Assistance Office, speaks with John Simon, a paralegal, inside the office located in the U.S. Army Japan headquarters building at Camp Zama, Japan, May 20, 2024. The office recently earned the 2023 Army Chief of Staff Award for Excellence in Legal Assistance for its support to the community.
\n (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"The
\n <\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n 2 \/ 2<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n The certificate for the 2023 Army Chief of Staff Award for Excellence in Legal Assistance is displayed outside the Camp Zama Legal Assistance Office located in the U.S. Army Japan headquarters building at Camp Zama, Japan, May 20, 2024. The office recently earned the award for its support to the community.
\n (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The Legal Assistance Office here recently secured another big win after being named the best in the Army among small installations in fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n

The office, which is overseen by two U.S. Army Garrison Japan employees, previously earned the Army Chief of Staff Award for Excellence in Legal Assistance in 2018 as well as 17 other times since 1990.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt recognizes the initiatives we\u2019ve taken here to support eligible clients,\u201d Kent Herring, chief of the office, said of the award. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of competition across the Army. A lot of offices are trying to have initiatives and create some new things, so it feels good to be recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the office achieved a 100% satisfied customer feedback rating through the Interactive Customer Evaluation system, placing it at the top of all customer service providers within U.S. Army Japan.<\/p>\n

The office also worked with the Japanese Employment Service Office to convert and upgrade a local national administrative assistant position to a legal adviser position. Once filled, the new position will increase the office\u2019s host nation legal capabilities.<\/p>\n

Other accomplishments included helping develop a \u201cmarriage in Japan\u201d brief for the community, contributing to the Emergency Family Assistance Center program and exercise, and participating in Japan-wide legal assistance training involving each service\u2019s legal assistance office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Army Legal Assistance Program is a critical factor in the quality of life in this [overseas] community,\u201d said Maj. Gen. Dave Womack, commander of USARJ. \u201cI am proud of the outstanding legal services provided to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Simon, a paralegal who was part of the office\u2019s previous win in 2018, also earned the USAG Japan employee of the year award last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a coincidence that we won it last time when John was here and then we won this time,\u201d Herring said. \u201cHe constantly gets really strong feedback. A lot of that has to do with what he does, creating that good interaction with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon, who served a similar role as a Soldier, said the small but mighty team here strives to go out of its way to support community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love doing my work and it\u2019s always a positive environment helping people out,\u201d Simon said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of nice going to work every day [and] making an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office provides almost all services civilian attorneys offer, except representation in civilian court.<\/p>\n

Services include powers of attorney; wills; family law, including divorce and adding a member to the family; Status of Forces Agreement issues; financial liability investigations; general office of reprimands and more.<\/p>\n

The services are available for free to active-duty military, retirees, reservists who are serving on orders, Department of Defense civilians, civilian contractors and their family members.<\/p>\n

Simon said legal fees outside the gate can sometimes be costly. Notarizations, for instance, may cost 5,000 yen per page, whereas the legal office here does not charge for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to serve the community,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether you think it\u2019s legal related or not, call us and we\u2019ll screen you and we\u2019ll try to help with what we can. If we can help, we will help. If it\u2019s a different service, we can refer you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herring said laws and processes can be more convoluted in Japan than in the United States. He said the office will sometimes reach out to the U.S. Embassy to tackle certain issues.<\/p>\n

Herring, a former judge advocate general officer who served in Japan, said he and Simon can also lean on their years of know-how when encountering difficult legal situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of our experience in Japan and the legal depth of knowledge [we have], we feel like we\u2019re able to help people,\u201d he said. \u201cEven though there are two of us, it\u2019s not very often where we\u2019re at a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

That level of expertise is important since community members may face a limited number of options for legal assistance in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to find ways to help people here,\u201d Herring said. \u201cA lot of clients don\u2019t have other places to go, so that kind of puts a little bit more emphasis on, \u2018Let\u2019s see what we can do to help you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s Note: For more information on the office or its services, call DSN: 262-4698\/3400 or go to www.usarj.army.mil\/staff\/sja\/lao.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Related links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison Japan news<\/a><\/p>\n

USAG Japan official website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Kent Herring, left, chief of the Camp Zama Legal Assistance Office, speaks with John Simon, a paralegal, inside the office located in the U.S. Army Japan headquarters building at Camp Zama, Japan, May 20, 2024. The office recently earned the 2023 Army Chief of Staff Award […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187494,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=187492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187497,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187492\/revisions\/187497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/187494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=187492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=187492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=187492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}