Alumni Graduate Army's Direct Commissioning Course


March 16, 2017

DCC Graduates

From left to right: 1LT Warren Bianchi, JD, '16; 1LT Kyle Ainsworth, JD '16; 1LT Tara Arndt, LLM '15; JD '16; 1LT Aimee Rider, JD '16.

Two members of the Public Contract Law Journal 2015-16 editorial board, Warren Bianchi, JD '16 (articles editor), and Aimee Rider, JD '16 (symposium editor), were among five GW Law alumni who graduated from the U.S. Army Direct Commissioning Course (DCC) in Ft. Benning, Georgia, in February. The training at Ft. Benning included the Army physical fitness test, land navigation, basic rifle marksmanship, and a timed six-mile ruck march. "We all agree that DCC was a great experience to establish that we are serving the Army and our country as dual-professionals," said LT Rider.

The newly minted first lieutenants, which include 1LT Kyle Ainsworth, JD '16 and 1LT Tara Arndt, LLM '15 received guidance from several former JAG officers on the faculty, including Professors Gregory E. MaggsSteven L. Schooner, Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law; and Karen Thornton, as well as Deans Hank R. Molinengo and Lisa M. Schenck, before making the decision to pursue an Army career.

LTs Bianchi and Rider will enter the JAG Corps as reservists in May upon graduation from the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia. LT Bianchi will be joining the Washington, D.C. office of Hogan Lovells, and LT Rider will return to the Winchester, Virginia, office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where she serves as a procurement attorney in the Chief Counsel's Civilian Honors Program. They'll be assigned to the same Reserve unit in Maryland. Their fellow GW Law alumni and DCC classmates LTs Kyle Ainsworth and Tara Arndt will be entering active duty and assigned to duty stations around the world. LT Rider encouraged anyone interested in joining the JAG Corps to reach out and learn from the experience of recent alumni. "The JAG Corps has a strong community of mentors!" she said.

Their graduation will take place on Thursday, May 11.