feature

New ADC team on the job, ready to make a difference

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. O'Brien
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  To say Tinker's Airmen lucked out could be a grave injustice. It is by no accident Tinker Airmen have an outstanding Area Defense Counsel team working for them, officials said.

Housed in Bldg. 1, door B, the ADC Office is comprised of lawyer Capt. Elizabeth Crane and paralegal Tech. Sgt. Alberto Ramirez who are available to offer legal advice and defend Airmen facing adverse actions. Services they provide include, but are not limited to, representation in courts-martial, Article 15s, adverse administration actions, unfavorable information files, letters of counseling, and flying evaluation boards.

"Captain Crane is awesome. She is undoubtedly one of the best company grade officers I have supervised in my career," said Lt. Col. David Vercellone, 72nd Air Base Wing Staff Judge Advocate, who nominated Captain Crane for the position. "Likewise, Al Ramirez is a truly outstanding paralegal and noncommissioned officer. I have supervised him at two bases - Tinker and Misawa Air Base, Japan - where he consistently performed ahead of his peers. Together, they are the dream team ADC shop."

Captain Crane and Sergeant Ramirez do not work for anyone in the Tinker chain of command. They report to the chief of Trial Defense Services at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Captain Crane and Sergeant Ramirez have 100-percent confidentiality with their clients. This means an Airman does not have to worry that anything he or she says will be reported to anyone.

"I advocate zealously for every client. I'm here to uphold the United States Constitution and protect the legal rights of Airmen," said Captain Crane, area defense counsel. "Figuring out how to most effectively advocate for the each individual client is the greatest challenge and the part I like the most. Every case is fact specific, no two cases are identical."

Captain Crane, who received her law degree from the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2007, came to Tinker in 2010. She has been in the Air Force four-and-a-half years and said this is the job she wanted since she joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps.

"She's very bright, the epitome of a professional and unflappable in the face of adversity. I could go on and on; the glowing accolades are well deserved," Colonel Vercellone said. "She's extremely diligent and hardworking and I have no doubt she will do everything possible to help every client she can."

Sergeant Ramirez has worked in the ADC office since October 2011. He has an extensive and unique Air Force career extending more than 13 years. He spent four years as an aircraft mechanic for the C-17 Globemaster III before traveling with Tops in Blue for a year as a drummer. When his tour ended, he wanted a new challenge and became a paralegal. He's been in the career field roughly 10 years and at Tinker four years.

Together, Captain Crane and Sergeant Ramirez average 65 to 85 new cases each month.