Former JAG Officer in the U.S. Air Force To Speak at Manhattan College
Captain Allison DeVito will present Cost of War lecture on Feb. 27.
On Thursday, Feb. 27, U.S. Air Force Captain Allison DeVito will visit Manhattan College to discuss her role as a Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) officer in Afghanistan as part of the College’s observance of Peace Week. DeVito will conclude the week’s events with the Cost of War lecture at 4 p.m.
Before beginning her current position with the Air Force, DeVito served as the Rule of Law Field Support Officer in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. She mentored 30 Afghan judges and prosecutors while working to increase judicial legitimacy and strengthen civil sector ties between district, provincial and national governments.
DeVito is currently chief of the Victim Issues and Policy Branch, Military Justice Division, Air Force Legal Operations Agency. In this position, she develops and implements programs and policies concerning victim-related issues and oversees the Air Force’s Victim and Witness Assistance Program. During the past year, DeVito provided legal counsel to more than 700 victims of sexual assault in the Air Force.
Other Peace Week events include a screening of Siddiq Barmak’s Osama, a film about an Afghan girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to go to school, and a brief film about the Taliban followed by a discussion.
The Cost of War lecture is open to the community and will be held in the Alumni Room of the Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library. The lecture is sponsored by the International Studies department, Women and Gender Studies program, and the student organization JustPeace.
For more information, please contact Thomas Ferguson, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies at (718) 862-7137 or by email at thomas.ferguson@manhattan.edu.