Back to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa
VICENZA, Italy — Few residents of Hagerstown, Maryland, realize their school board lawyer is also a superwoman of sorts. Monday through Friday, U.S. Army Capt. Brooke Gomulka serves as in-house counsel, but during drill weekends she dons a different cape as a U.S. Army Reserve judge advocate with the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade.
Currently, she is on a nine-month deployment with the Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force (SETAF-AF) in Vicenza, Italy.
Her deployment began with six months in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, and since then Gomulka led three rule of law subject-matter-expert exchanges with military legal professionals in Uganda, Zambia and Burundi. She spent two days in each country sharing U.S. practices and hearing how partners apply the rule of law in their own systems. To support those exchanges, she worked with fellow civil affairs Soldiers and legal experts from the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, including a U.S. Marine Corps judge advocate.
“The intent of the engagements was to discuss rule of law through a subject-matter-expert exchange,” Gomulka said. “Through those conversations, you really see how our system works and the rights we often take for granted in the U.S., like the guaranteed right to counsel. It was very eye-opening.”
In Uganda, the focus was on the law of armed conflict, command responsibility, military justice and peacekeeping operations. The exchange was built on several years of prior engagements, which allowed for deeper conversations and continuity with their legal professionals.
In Zambia, the dialogue turned to human rights and accountability. One Zambian colonel shared that without formal military legal schooling like the U.S. military offers its judge advocates, he struggled to guide junior attorneys on the law of armed conflict, an example that showed why these professional exchanges matter.
Gomulka said she noticed the greatest payoff during the Burundi exchange, which marked the country’s first engagement of this kind since 2016. She recalled that Burundian officers invited the U.S. team to their own facility for meaningful conversations by the second day.
“That was a great experience to learn about them and their culture outside of the legal discussions,” Gomulka said. “Burundi was especially rewarding. At first, the conversations were very surface level, but by the end they were inviting us into their spaces and engaging in real dialogue.”
Throughout all three countries, she was struck by the hospitality of her counterparts, who often shared traditional meals with the U.S. team.
Not only was this an eye-opening professional experience for Gomulka, but she also indicated that she grew as a person. As the only judge advocate assigned to SETAF-AF on the continent, she often had to develop her own operational plans.
“I had never planned missions before,” Gomulka said. “Just thinking through the process of mission execution is not something that a judge advocate is typically responsible for.”
She also left with new ideas to apply back at home.
Local legal officers in Burundi showed her how they use visuals and diagrams to teach the law of armed conflict, an approach she now hopes to adapt for training U.S. Soldiers. Gomulka was surprised to discover that many partner nations keep their military attorneys in central offices, rather than embedding them with units.
“It was a very different approach than what we’re used to,” Gomulka said.
Although her deployment was a significant professional experience, Gomulka admits she looks forward to a small taste of home (her favorite glazed donut from Krumpe’s in Hagerstown) once she hangs up her cape—until the next mission.
About SETAF-AF
SETAF-AF prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.
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