Page 1 - March ARB Beacon 12-11-15

Vol. 80, No. 48 March Air Reserve Base, California Friday, December 11, 2015

NEWS BRIEFS 163rd Judge Advocate defends Airman

OPERATION WARM
HEART RUNS

THROUGH DEC. 15
The 452nd Security Forces
Squadron and the Air Force
Security Forces Association
will have their annual Christ-
mas Toy Drive (Operation
Warm Heart) at March Air
Reserve Base through Dec.
15, after which all dona-
tions will be delivered to the
March Field Fire and Emer-
gency Services building. A
band of volunteers will place
the toys into food baskets to
be given out to Team March
members who are in need of
a little help during the Christ-
mas holidays.
Collection boxes will be
located at the Main (Cactus)
Gate and at the Law Enforce-
ment Desk (building next to
wing headquarters). The SFS
and AFSFA teams agree that
March members are like one
big family, and families take
care of their own. Thank you
and have a very happy holi-
day season. 452nd SFS &
AFSFA

OEF/OIF (SOCAL U.S. Air National Guard photo/Tech. Sgt. Neil Ballecer
VETS) SCHOLARSHIPS
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AVAILABLE March Air Reserve Base.
Full scholarships are avail-
able to Southern California Maj. Marsha Yasuda had penalty of one year of civilian Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and between the time the charges
OEF/OIF Veterans to learn barely landed at the 163d Re- confinement, a dishonorable had been involved in some 20 were preferred and the trial. For
Transcendental Meditation. connaissance Wing’s Judge discharge, and a reduction in courts-martial, as both a pros- example, military units were
If you are interested in re- Advocate General’s Corps in rank to E-1 (Airman Basic). ecutor and a defender. now required to offer civilian
ducing stress, improving the 2012 when Lt. Col. Sotera An- The court martial, finally tried courts the option of adjudicat-
quality of your sleep, and en- derson assigned her one of the last February, was the first in- “I thought it would be in the ing cases; and witnesses have a
joying better relationships, rarest and most important cases volving a California Air Na- best interests of the member we new right to counsel in court-
the David Lynch Foundation the unit had ever handled: the tional Guardsman in the dozen were asked to defend to have martial settings.
is offering a limited number courts martial case of an airman or more years Anderson had [Yasuda] represent him,” An-
of free courses in the evi- from the 129th Rescue Wing at been in the unit, she recalls. derson says. Yasuda adds, “the Uni-
dence-based Transcendental Moffett Federal Airfield. As luck would have it, Yasuda form Code of Military Justice
Meditation (TM) technique had just come to the unit—now But the case wasn’t going (UCMJ) covers federal courts-
to OEF/OIF veterans in Los The individual had been ac- part of the 163d Attack Wing— to be easy, even with her ex- martial; the California Mili-
Angeles and San Diego. cused by two female airmen only months from active duty perience in litigation, Yasuda tary and Veterans Code adopts
Through a generous grant of entering the female side of Air Force where she’d most re- recounts. Precedents were un- the UCMJ, but adds its own
from the David Lynch Foun- open-bay barracks, and sexu- cently served as a Deputy Staff clear: The law had changed sig- specific provisions regarding
dation, you will be able to ally assaulting them. For the Judge Advocate General (JAG) nificantly in the years since the courts-martial.”
four Article 120 specifications, at the 42nd Airbase Wing, last California
See BRIEFS page 3 the airman faced a maximum In addition, California
Air National Guard (CANG) See DEFEND page 7
court martial, and kept evolving