In the Spotlight

By MCSN Triniti Lersch, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Name: Joseph Vellon

Command: RLSO EURAFSWA

Department: Sigonella Legal

Lt. Joseph Vellon, the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate (JAG) at U.S. Region Legal Service Office Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia (RLSO EURAFSWA) Detachment Sigonella, Italy, was recently recognized as the 2020 Junior Officer of the Year for RLSO EURAFSWA. In his nearly two years with Naval Air Station Sigonella, Vellon has served as the Civil Law Section Head, Command Services Section Head, and Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) Lead, as well as the SJA to Naval Support Facility Deveselu, Romania and Redzikowo, Poland.

According to Capt. Christopher Greer, commanding officer of RLSO EURAFSWA, Vellon represents what it means to be both an officer and an attorney in the United States Navy. “His legal acumen, along with his commitment to fairness and selfless teamwork, coupled with his ability to assume greater levels of responsibility, have allowed him to provide outstanding legal support in a remote duty location under unprecedented operating conditions,” said Greer. “His unswerving dedication to duty and performance are truly exemplary.”

First, Vellon was nominated for and won the Junior Officer of the Quarter for the command. “It feels great,” said Vellon in regards to winning the awards. “It’s always nice to be recognized for your efforts.”

At the same time, Vellon believes that this recognition is due to not only his own hard work, but mainly that of his entire team. “The award has got my name on it, but obviously it’s a team effort,” said Vellon.

As a JAG, Vellon’s main duty is to provide solutions to a variety of legal issues.

“We’ve always got a couple investigations going on, whether those are NASSIG (command investigations) or NCIS investigations,” said Vellon, “so we try to keep up to date with those. As Legal, we kind of get pulled into a lot of different issues that happen on base. It’s not just the disciplinary issues.”

In addition to conducting investigations, his tasks can include projects as varied as helping a commanding officer with an operational issue, reviewing an instruction, or helping someone with a custody case.

“I like giving people advice,” said Vellon. “I like being able to help people, give them advice, and help them get through those tough times, whatever they might be. You don’t call your lawyer unless you’re having a bad day. It’s just nice to help people.”

Vellon joined the Navy in February of 2017. “My wife definitely had some input on that,” said Vellon. “I applied with the Air Force and the Navy. The Air Force said no, but I think that even if they had said yes I would have chosen the Navy. I think that the mission of the Navy is a lot more interesting and more important. It’s also nice to be close to water,” he added.

Because Vellon was stationed in NASSIG not too long before COVID happened, he was unable to travel as much as he would have liked. He enjoys the history of Sicily, and he is excited to travel as soon as he is able to.