Deployed soldier takes new oath,,,,as a lawyer

Deployed soldier sworn in as lawyer over video

By David Eggert - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 2, 2009 15:20:22 EDT

LANSING, Mich. — Before being deployed to Iraq, Army Reserve Maj. Miles Gengler needed Red Bull energy drinks to survive his schedule.

Wake up at 4 a.m. Drive over an hour to work while listening to legal CDs. Come home. Squeeze in time with his wife and three kids. Pack for Iraq. Settle other matters before leaving the country for at least a year. Oh — and study for Michigan’s two-day bar exam.

Gengler, 35, was rewarded Wednesday when he was sworn in as a new lawyer while standing more than 6,000 miles away in Baghdad’s Green Zone. Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly administered the 240-word oath during a unique long-distance ceremony at the state National Guard headquarters in Lansing.

“I’m just in awe,” Gengler, of Grand Blanc, told reporters. “I’m just a soldier like 120,000 or so others here in Iraq.”

The chief justice said she could not help but get emotional during the swearing-in, partly because of the time delay between when she stated the oath and when Gengler could repeat it.
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