Schumann family practice

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eric Burks
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  When Christopher Schumann enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1985, few would have predicted that three decades later, he would be a colonel-select serving as the staff judge advocate at the largest fighter wing in U.S. Air Forces Europe.

Fewer still could have foreseen his "total force" trajectory, as now-Lt. Col. Schumann transitioned from active-duty enlisted Airman to the Air Force Reserve Command, before commissioning twice: first as a Reserve officer, then back into active-duty service.

But it didn't surprise one man: retired Air Force Maj. George Schumann, the family patriarch and "trailblazer," who began his own enlistment into the service in 1959, and went on to become a lawyer after retiring.

"I obviously looked up to my dad as a role model, and all of the attributes he had," said Lt. Col. Schumann. "Like most kids, I wanted to possess those as well."

George Schumann began his Air Force career in the medical technician field, enlisting primarily for educational benefits.

"I knew I wanted to go to college, so I looked at each one of the services to see what their education program was like," he said. "The Air Force had the best by far, so I tried in my 22 years to take advantage of that benefit."

After earning enough credits through part-time classes, George Schumann applied and was accepted into the Airman Education and Commissioning Program, which allows enlisted Airmen the opportunity to earn a commission while completing their bachelor's degree.

He then attended the University of Arizona as a full-time student, graduated in 1967, then completed Officer Training School to receive a commission as a personnel officer.

Over the next few years, George Schumann continued to take advantage of educational opportunities and earned two master's degrees before retiring as a recruiting squadron commander in New York in 1981. It was a fellow recruiting officer who first gave him the idea to attend law school.

"I thought about what I was going to do and for many years considered going into personnel management after the Air Force,” he said. “I happened to have a neighbor who was responsible for the naval recruiting in New York who was planning to go to law school."

He said, "I thought over the years, in personnel, I did a lot of work with the lawyers, so I thought I’d enjoy that too. I still had the G.I. Bill, so that’s what I used."

Meanwhile, just after high school, Lt. Col. Schumann was off to Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, after deciding to put his own college plans on hold. While he had applied and had been accepted to attend Penn State University, he ultimately chose to follow in his father's footsteps.

"My brother had gone to Penn State and my oldest brother had gone to school, so I thought well, its school like everybody else," he said.

"But then I thought, going to college at Penn State, was maybe not as exciting as what my dad did for all those years," he said. "So, using him as a role model and seeing it as an opportunity to go out and do bigger and better things, I decided to join the Air Force."

Lt. Col. Schumann's enlisted career began in the medical administration career field, and he was stationed at bases in Nevada and Japan.

When his initial enlistment was up in 1990, he separated from active-duty service and transitioned into the Air Force Reserve to attend college full-time at Arizona State University.

After completing his undergraduate degree in 1993, he was commissioned as a Medical Service Corps officer and remained in the Reserve.

The following summer, he went inactive reserve for two years, returned to Japan and taught junior high English for two years. It was there he started thinking about the next stage of his career.

"As my time as a teacher came to a close, I started to think about what I was going to do next, and I gravitated toward going to law school,” he said. "I've got two brothers who are lawyers, my dad's a lawyer, so it must be working, it must be a family thing."

While still in Japan, he took the Law School Admission Test, then was accepted into law school at the University of Pittsburgh. He also re-joined the active Reserve as a Medical Service Corps officer, serving as an operations officer on C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Before he finished law school, Lt. Col. Schumann applied for a position in the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps. In October 1998, he was selected as a direct appointee.

“There never really was much of a question of whether or not I would try to get back on active duty,” he said. “There was a natural pull, a sense of belonging to an organization that meant so much to me and my family.”

He then graduated from law school, passed the legal bar examination, and commissioned back into active duty. He was soon back in Japan, arriving for his first assignment as a JAG at Yokota Air Base, working primarily in the military justice section.

He was soon selected to be a circuit trial counsel, traveling around Pacific Air Forces bases prosecuting high profile cases. Over the next few years, he relocated to different bases where he had the opportunity to perform in a variety of different roles, including teaching military justice, working in contract litigation, serving as a military judge, and serving as the chief of accessions at the headquarters professional development office.

Out of everything you can do in the JAG Corps, he said, military justice takes top priority.

"Everything we do is important," he said, "but military justice is job one, because the maintenance of good order and discipline is the most important thing that we can do to assist commanders in making sure the mission gets done."

Doing his part to ensure the military justice system is not only fair but is also perceived as fair is an important aspect of his role as the installation staff judge advocate.

“Our Airmen and the public must have confidence in the military justice process,” he said.

Next month, Lt. Col. Schumann will relocate from Lakenheath to a somewhat familiar location: Travis Air Force Base, California, where he was born when his father was stationed there as a 1st lieutenant.

This time around, he will be serving as the Deputy Chief Military Judge for the Air Force Trial Judiciary’s Western Circuit.

Meanwhile, his oldest brother, Michael Schumann, also an Air Force veteran, is a public defender in Columbus, Ohio. Eric Schumann does transactional legal work as a partner at a firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their younger sister Karen is a paralegal at a law firm in Pittsburgh, working in immigration law.

And George Schumann, patriarch of the "Schumann Family Practice," is now enjoying his second retirement, recently having made his first trip to Europe to visit his son here.

Eric Schumann, who also came along on the trip, said, "The Air Force is like everything else in life: you get out of it what you put into it. You need to look for opportunities for advancement and have ambition.”

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate for the last 32 years to serve in the world’s greatest Air Force,” said Lt. Col. Schumann. “But I’ve enjoyed great success in large part thanks to the incredible mentors who have helped shape my career from day one, and of course thanks to the support of my wonderful family.”

What’s the secret to a lengthy and productive Air Force career?

According to Lt. Col. Schumann, “Dedication, hard work and commitment to something bigger than yourself, recognizing that you didn’t get where you are without help, and paying it forward in a positive way to the Airmen whose lives you are fortunate enough to impact. It also helps to love what you do.”