always encouraged me, saying for a professional it was a great route to go and a totally different atmosphere, which it is,” Thomas said. So, at age 27, Thomas applied for and was accepted into the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. In his first year, he worked in a legal clinic for military members, where he helped them deal with everyday legal issues. He also served as a military prosecutor and as the chief of claims for U.S. Forces in Iraq, where he would decide on restitution for claims of incidental damage done by the military during the war there. During the last two of his five years of active-duty service, Thomas was assigned to accompany the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Afghanistan. As a legal adviser, Thomas wasn’t sure how he would be accepted by these elite warfighters. “The most pleasant surprise to me in that special operations community was that I was sought out by the commanders to give input on a wide range of combat decisions,” Thomas said. Even when split-second decisions were needed, mission leaders wanted to make sure they were following international laws of war and fighting honorably, he said. Thomas ended his active duty in June of this year, and started the next month at Boeing, which interviewed him via a teleconference while he was on deployment in Afghanistan. Thomas said he’s proud of his service to his country, and it helps him do his job today. “It gives me a background and a reference so that when I’m dealing with the government’s auditing agency, I know where they’re coming from,” he said. Forty years before Thomas decided to serve, Steve DeSantis made the same decision. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968, an unusual choice during the Vietnam conflict. But he considered it his duty—joining the military was the continuation of a family tradition and part of his conviction to help his country. His father landed on the shores of Normandy during World War II and Steve DeSantis PHOTO: FRED TROILO/BOEING Tony Tumminello PHOTO: BOB FERGUSON/BOEING 32 Frontiers November 2014
Frontiers November 2014 Issue
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