Nelson Robles: JAG-Trained Legal Representation for Every Branch at JBSA
Fort Sam Houston. Lackland. Randolph. Three installations, three cultures, one uniform code of military justice — and one attorney who’s stood on the other side of it.
Joint Base San Antonio trains, treats, and supports service members from the Army, Air Force, and beyond, and the legal consequences that follow a service member here don’t discriminate by branch.
Nelson Robles, co-founder of Corrao & Robles Law, spent years as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer before turning his focus to defending the soldiers stationed at bases like JBSA, representing them in courts-martial, administrative hearings, and the federal issues that sometimes follow.
What Makes Nelson Robles Different?
Ask any experienced defense attorney and they’ll tell you the UCMJ isn’t hard to read — it’s hard to apply under pressure, in real cases, with a commander and a panel watching. Nelson Robles spent years applying it as an active-duty Army JAG Major, long before he ever represented a client from the civilian side. He completed the Judge Advocate Officer Course, the Military Trial Advocacy Course, and the Complex Victim Unit Course along the way, and his service record includes the Army Commendation Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. That’s the difference: knowing how the system is supposed to work because you worked inside it.
What Attorney Robles Handles for JBSA Service Members
Whether a case originates at Fort Sam Houston, Lackland, or Randolph, and regardless of which branch a client wears the uniform of, Attorney Robles brings the same standard of preparation to every matter. His JBSA practice covers:
Military investigative agencies don’t operate on a single timeline, and a case can be well underway by the time a service member at JBSA is even approached for a statement. Attorney Robles’s guidance doesn’t change based on which agency is asking the questions: get a lawyer involved before you answer anything.
The UCMJ applies the same whether a defendant serves in the Army or the Air Force, and the stakes are just as high: a general court-martial conviction can carry a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of pay, and years of confinement. Attorney Robles takes on cases from the Article 32 hearing through trial, and continues into an appeal before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, depending on the branch involved.
Commanders across every branch use non-judicial punishment to resolve alleged misconduct quickly, and it’s often framed as the low-risk choice. It isn’t always. A finding can mean reduced rank, forfeited pay, and a permanent note that resurfaces at the next evaluation or reenlistment decision. Attorney Robles walks clients through the decision to accept punishment or demand a court-martial, and builds the strongest mitigation argument available.
Sexual assault allegations are treated as a top prosecutorial priority across the services, and the reputational fallout often begins well before any legal proceeding concludes. Attorney Robles conducts an independent investigation and builds a defense from the facts, not the assumptions that accompany an accusation.
Plenty of the legal risk at JBSA never touches a courtroom. Attorney Robles also represents service members in:
- Involuntary separation and administrative discharge boards
- Reenlistment or re-commissioning bar challenges
- Security clearance revocations and DOHA hearings
- Military record correction board applications (ABCMR, AFBCMR, and equivalents)
- Officer and enlisted evaluation report rebuttals
- Letters of reprimand and memoranda responses
- AWOL, UA, and desertion defense
- VA disability claim denials and appeals
- USERRA reemployment rights disputes
Every Day You Wait is a Day You Can’t Get Back
JBSA’s training pipelines, deployment cycles, and PCS timelines move quickly, and a pending legal matter doesn’t slow any of it down. Witnesses transfer, records get harder to pull, and the response window for an Article 15, a clearance appeal, or a records-correction filing is often shorter than service members expect.
That urgency doesn’t end at the gate; the earlier a lawyer gets involved in any state or federal matter connected to JBSA, the more leverage remains.
Frequently Asked Questions
The San Antonio Military Community
Attorney Robles represents service members, veterans, and military families connected to Fort Sam Houston, Lackland, and Randolph throughout the greater San Antonio area, including Universal City, Converse, Live Oak, and Schertz, as well as those who have since moved on to bases in other parts of the country.
