U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES SOUTH, Miami -- -- Over the last decade, Maj. Steve Stewart, Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Marine Corps Forces South, has plied his legal trade in locales distant and obscure. From the East to West coasts of the United States to Japan and South America, and real-world operations in Haiti and East Timor, his performance has been lauded globally, and has now been officially recognized.
In a ceremony in Arlington, VA, Stewart was named the Outstanding Career Marine Corps Attorney for 2005. The award, sponsored by the Judge Advocates Association and the Pentagon Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, is given not only for individual professional accomplishments, but also for leadership, development of subordinates and service to the community.
Reports of his professional accomplishments from his senior officers echo the milestones on his resume. “The fact that Maj. Stewart has been assigned duties as a Staff Judge Advocate (vice an assistant or a staff attorney) speaks considerably of this Marine officer’s leadership and leadership potential,” according to Col. Kathryn Stone, Staff Judge Advocate for U.S. Forces Southern Command. Stone championed Stewart’s nomination for the award, largely based upon his stellar performance in Operation Secure Tomorrow in Haiti last year while filling a lieutenant colonel’s billet. “As a major, this Marine Corps officer deftly handled the job of a much senior judge advocate. I can think of no greater validation of his career than this testament alone.”
Brigadier General Kevin M. Sandkuhler, Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, has known Stewart for several years and has seen him perform in a number of varied assignments, including his current billet as Staff Judge Advocate for Marine Corps forces operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. “At MARFORSOUTH, he handles a variety of issues and circumstances, from deploying to Haiti in support of Operation Secure Tomorrow to providing instruction to Colombian military forces in the Laws of War. It shows a real talent on his part,” he said.
Stewart was born in St. Louis and grew up in Mt. Vernon, Ill., a community of about 20,000 residents some 72 miles east of St. Louis. He is the oldest of four siblings, all of whom have professional careers, but he was the only one among them to enter the military. Stewart was commissioned as a Marine officer after his first year as a student at Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale, Illinois.
Before his career took its expeditionary turn, Stewart spent time in the legal trenches at home, learning the ropes. His career began as a legal assistance attorney and trial counsel at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, CA, and at 1st Force Service Support Group there. Later he transferred to the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, where he served as a deputy staff judge advocate for the division.
“As a deputy SJA, you’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting…the daily grind of legal work. Whether it be reviewing investigations, or ensuring that trial witnesses are readily available for trial counsel, giving (Status of Forces Agreements) briefs, providing some levels of legal assistance, and you’re the midnight watch officer during the command post exercise. Albeit those are very valuable experiences, the desire among Marines and Marine attorneys is that you want to get out and be with the Marines and be operational,” he said.
A real-world crisis in his area of responsibility unexpectedly catapulted him into a position to test his mettle, producing his chance to realize that goal. He received the opportunity to deploy with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. There, he applied the knowledge gained in his previous assignment to good use in peacekeeping operations in East Timor. “Doing all those things…Individually you don’t think it has that much importance, but collectively it proved to be a very valuable experience. It gave me the foundation I needed to work well when I deployed with the 31st MEU as their staff judge advocate,” he said.
While he hadn’t anticipated being selected to deploy to East Timor, it was precisely the reason he selected his career as a Marine. “It was one of those things where I literally got thrown into a job that I had not anticipated being in, and it was an invigorating experience. That’s what I joined the Marine Corps for -- to grab your sea bag out of your (room), go down in the middle of the night to the ship, embark, and the next morning you’re on your way. And you’re thousands of miles away from home, doing something that felt good to do. And I’ve continued on that track ever since – with my focus on international and operational law, and my appreciation derived from that experience in 1999. So I’ve been doing it now for almost six years.”
Following that rewarding professional experience was a succession of foreign ports and assignments, he said. Operations in Australia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and others followed. Later, he transferred to Marine Corps Forces South in Miami to serve as the Staff Judge Advocate.
In his current assignment, he has had three major professional accomplishments, Stone said. First, he outlined the need for legal protections for U.S. personnel deploying to nations without a Status of Forces Agreement, and several countries have since adopted provisional agreements. Second, he engaged his counterparts of partner nations in his area of responsibility, to encourage professionalization and broaden levels of experience and knowledge for all involved. Lastly, he worked closely with U.S. Forces Southern Command and the military forces of Colombia to help implement the Plan Colombia Legal Reform. This enabled our Andean ridge neighbor to make great strides in developing its system of military justice and establishing rules of engagement.
Stewart’s current assignment in Miami is a staff position that is fairly well rooted, but he has been anything but stationary. Last year, when MARFORSOUTH took the reins as the planning agent for Operation Secure Tomorrow in Haiti, Stewart threw his name in the hat to go “downrange” to help the Joint Task Force bring order to chaos. What followed was an open-ended deployment that lasted four months. This was the culmination of all that he had learned throughout his career, Stone said. Initially, he was instrumental in planning for the introduction of U.S. forces into Haiti, and then jumped at the chance to deploy with them. Once there, his level of familiarity with the operational planning, scheme of maneuver, and required tasks enabled him to achieve success very quickly, and do the job of a much senior judge advocate. The job called for a more seasoned individual, but Stewart answered the call and gained the complete trust of the Combined Joint Task Force commander, who refused to replace him with anyone else.
Stewart’s tour in Miami is coming to a close, but he is looking forward to a new and difficult challenge ahead. His next assignment will be as a student at the Army’s Judge Advocate General School, where he will earn a Master of Laws degree in Military Law. From there, he would like to return to the Fleet Marine Force, or to a tour at the Pentagon or Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Ultimately, he wishes to pursue his interest in international law, he said.
When asked what his advice was for his peers and subordinates in his occupational field, the Corps’ attorney of the year had some simple advice. It wasn’t about being the best attorney imaginable; it was simply to be expeditionary, and above all, to be a Marine.