Lt. Commander Ryan Santicola
Lt.
Commander Ryan Santicola ’05 has lived and worked in five countries during his
eight years as a Navy JAG Corps attorney, including in Iraq, Greece, Cuba and
his current assignment in Japan. During that time he has served as a legal adviser
to Navy commanders as well as an appellate defense counsel. “The Navy JAG Corps
is like a very large law firm, with about 700 lawyers,” he said. “The work is
similar to being a legal counsel for a corporation. It exposes me to a wide
range of cases and situations. It makes JAG officers well-rounded lawyers. It’s
hard to imagine a more interesting and dynamic organization in which to work.”
He has
an identical twin brother, Lt. Commander Ian Santicola ’05, a classmate at
Albany Law who also joined the Navy as a JAG officer. Ian is stationed in
Washington, D.C. “I like to think I had the idea first because of my early JAG internship
in Germany,” Ryan said, “but my brother is the better officer and lawyer. We
stay close. We talk at least once a week by video chat or e-mail and visit each
other when we can. It can be a blessing and a curse having two people who look
so similar. We were both stationed at the same location in Washington for awhile
and it was strange to be mistaken for one another.”
Ryan’s
current assignment to the commander of the patrol and reconnaissance task force
of the Navy’s 7th Fleet at a base in Atsugi, Japan, means he advises
on legal issues that might arise with Navy aircraft patrolling the vast western
half of the Pacific Ocean. “I advise on the law of the sea as it applies to
international air navigation and rules of engagement, as well as military
justice cases, government ethics and rules that govern what commanders can and
cannot do with outside entities.”
During
the Iraq War, he was assigned to an office with about 15 other lawyers that
advised on the legal and policy issues relating to about 25,000 Iraqi
detainees. He advised commanders on detainees who should be considered for
release because there was insufficient evidence to hold them. He was in Iraq leading
up to and during the volatile troop surge and worked for the commander
responsible for transferring deposed President Saddam Hussein to the Iraqis
prior to his 2006 execution by hanging after he was convicted of crimes against
humanity. He also worked closely with a program that released detained
juveniles to their families after an investigation revealed there was not enough
evidence to continue to hold them. “I went to the gate of the detention center
with these kids and there were a lot of tears when they were reunited with
their parents,” he said. He also helped set up a review process to consider
releasing individual detainees. “We
released them after they took a pledge not to engage in any insurgent activity.
The Iraqis are a people of their word and they seemed to take that very
seriously. Seeing that process up-close was fascinating.”
While
he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Santicola advised the Navy base’s commanding
officer on a range of issues regarding a Navy installation in a foreign
country. The issues ranged from disciplining sailors to determining how the
base could be used consistent with international agreements and which groups
could operate there. He also was involved with the inter-agency program that
temporarily houses Cuban migrants on the Navy base prior to resettlement in
other countries. Some of these Cuban migrants swam to the base and others were
intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard. “It doesn’t get as much attention
as the detainees, but it was a fascinating program,” said Santicola, who
collaborated on migrant issues with staff from Homeland Security and the State
Department.
He
learned the importance of preparation from his professors at Albany Law,
particularly Patrick Connors and Timothy Lytton. “I was always amazed at how
well-prepared they were for their classes and they offered extraordinary road
maps that were very helpful,” he said. “Their courses were a great foundation
for my work as a lawyer and JAG officer.”
Santi
cola
and his wife, who is a consultant for community development financial
institutions, have a 3 ½ year-old daughter and they’ve embraced moving to a new
assignment every couple of years. “Personally, we’ve had amazing experiences
and, professionally, the sense of mission and the people I work with would be
hard to replicate in another job,” he said.