Florida lawyers go to work in Iraq.

I am a captain in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps and serve as chief of military justice for LSA Anaconda, Balad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. My current position is akin to being a small town district attorney, except that the pinstripes are replaced with a desert camouflage uniform, and the PDA is exchanged for a 9mm Beretta.

My main responsibility is to manage the flow of courts-martial in my jurisdiction, which includes more than 20,000 soldiers in Balad, Baghdad, Tikrit, and Taji, Iraq. I have four subordinate trial counsel and several paralegals working with me. I first or second chair all courts-martial that go to trial in the monthly trial terms docketed in my jurisdiction.

In addition to the inherent responsibilities associated with trying cases, I provide probable cause determinations and advice to the Criminal Investigation Division, teach classes, and promulgate a host of other adverse administrative actions, such as letters of reprimand, nonjudicial punishment, and pretrial confinement.

The logistical challenges of being in Iraq make this job a little trickier than the same position back in the U.S. For example, if I have to attend an evidentiary hearing in Baghdad, I cannot just hop in my car and drive to the courthouse. Rather, I have to either find or create a convoy of at least four military vehicles to drive down, or attempt to find a helicopter flight there. As you may suspect, Travelocity can't book me on a Blackhawk. And, of course, what goes with convoys is exposure to common Iraqi road hazards, such as small arms fire and improvised explosive devices. Consider as well that if we need original signatures on court documents, "FED EX" means carrying it myself on a Blackhawk, and "messenger service" means carrying it myself in a HMMWV.

Add to the confusion the difficulty of trying to arrange for civilian defense counsel or witnesses to appear in Iraq from the U.S. for a hearing or trial. We do not have facsimile capabilities, though we do have scanners and e-mail; however, the powder-fine sand that permeates most of Iraq breaks down electronic equipment quickly.

We are fortunate that LSA Anaconda is one of the more developed bases in Iraq. I live in a single-wide trailer, cut into thirds, and share my third with another captain. Showers, latrines, and running water are about 50 meters away.

We do...