377th Air Base Wing JAG wins national annual award

  • Published
  • By John Cochran
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM --  The 377th Air Base Wing's Staff Judge Advocate has been selected by the Judge Advocates Association as the 2010 active-duty Air Force Outstanding Career Judge Advocate.

Lt. Col. Stephen See, who also serves as the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center's Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, will be recognized May 12 at the Judge Advocates Association - Judge Advocates Foundation annual award dinner in Arlington, Va.

Marc Warren, president of the Judge Advocates Association, said the annual award honors the outstanding active and reserve career judge advocates for each military branch. Nominees are selected by the services through their chains of command. A committee of retired officers, chaired by a retired Army major general, then selects the recipients.

Colonel See, who has been stationed at Kirtland AFB since July 2008, entered the Air Force in 1997, after earning a law degree from Campbell University in North Carolina and passing that state's bar exam.

Colonel William Gampel, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center's Staff Judge Advocate at Kirtland AFB, nominated Colonel See for the award.

The nomination states as follows.

"Lt. Col. Stephen Edward See's 14 years of service as a judge advocate has been punctuated by outstanding professional accomplishment, leadership and community service. Early in his career, Colonel See successfully defended the government against $12.3 million in claims. His outstanding legal advice was instrumental in equipping the Air Force with $10 million in information technology to operate critical combat support systems. While stationed in Izmir, Turkey, Colonel See's skilled diplomacy directly contributed to a successful partnership between the Republic of Turkey and Air Force units in Izmir that led the Republic of Turkey to dismiss foreign criminal proceedings against four military members - a highly unusual but desirable outcome. As the Staff Judge Advocate at Izmir Air Station and Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Colonel See led his subordinates to new heights of achievement that were recognized during Inspector General inspections. Colonel See greatly contributed to Operation Enduring Freedom by advising operators on the laws of war and rules of engagement.

While deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his efforts ensured procurement of $1 billion in critical operational needs of U.S. and Iraqi forces that were indispensible to the operation's success. Over his career, Colonel See has worked with and inspired more than 800 young people by leading more than 30 youth activities and retreats at multiple duty stations. He has taught religious studies more than 220 times to more than 2,000 people of all ages, on three continents."

Colonel See's military awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster; Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Joint Service Achievement Medal; Air Force Achievement Medal; and Air Force Volunteer Medal. In addition, he received the American Bar Association's Young Lawyer Division's Outstanding Young Military Lawyer of the Year for 2004; the Federal Bar Association Younger Federal Lawyers Award for the Year, 2004; the Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award, Electronic Systems Command, 2003; and was named the Air Force Materiel Command Outstanding Judge Advocate, 2003.