Captain C. Rhodes Berry is a Litigation Attorney for the Federal Litigation Branch at the Labor Law Field Support Center, Personnel and Information Law Division, Civil Law & Litigation Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. He advises U.S. Air Force senior leaders on Labor & Employment matters and defends the U.S. Air Force in federal civil litigation in suits claiming violations of the U.S. Constitution & Civil Rights Acts.

 

Captain Berry began his legal career clerking at the District Attorney's Office in Columbus, Georgia where he wrote appellate briefs and sat second-chair in felony-level trials. During law school, he was a member of the Moot Court Board participating on the Products Liability moot court team and was selected to represent indigent defendants in oral argument before the Mississippi Court of Appeals. In the Air Force, he has acted as both as a criminal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. He has deployed twice in support of Operations FREEDOM'S SENTINEL and INHERENT RESOLVE.

 

Captain Berry's next assignment is Chief of Military Justice at the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

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EDUCATION

 

2010 Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

2014 Juris Doctor, cum laude, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

2019 Squadron Officer School, in residence

 

ASSIGNMENTS

 

1. April 2015 – November 2017, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate (Chief of Civil Law & Chief of Adverse Actions), 90th Missile Wing, F. E. Warren Air Force Base, WY (April 2017 – October 2017, Deployed Administrative Law Attorney, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)

2. November 2017 – August 2019, Area Defense Counsel, Air Force Legal Operations Agency, Sheppard Air Force Base, TX

3. August 2019 – present, Litigation Attorney, Administrative Litigation Branch & Federal Litigation Branch, Labor Law Field Support Center, Joint Base Andrews, MD (October 2020 – May 2021, Deployed Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates)

 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION

 

First Lieutenant 18 January 2015

Captain 18 July 2015

Major Jeffrey Joseph Lorek is currently the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of the 175th Wing, Maryland Air National Guard. In that capacity, he supports commanders on a variety of administrative, military justice, contract, ethics, personnel and operational law issues. In his civilian capacity, Major Lorek is an Associate Counsel, Navy Office of General Counsel, Special Projects Division.

 

Major Lorek deployed three times while on active duty. In Spring 2011, he rapidly deployed as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the 313th Air Expeditionary Wing in support of Operation ODYSSEY DAWN and NATO Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR (Libya). In 2013, Major Lorek deployed to HQ USFOR-A/SJA in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Finally, in 2017, he deployed as the Chief of Administrative Law for Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 

EDUCATION

 

2001 Bachelor of Science, Finance; Minor, Legal Environment of Business, The Pennsylvania State University, PA

2004 Juris Doctorate, cum laude, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, OH

2009 Commissioned Officer Training, distinguished graduate, Maxwell AFB, AL,

2012 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL

2015 LL.M, with highest honors, The George Washington University Law School, Washington, DC

2017 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL