MAJ Brett Erland

MAJ Erland was born and raised on Long Island, NY. He graduated from Miller Place High School in 2004 and went to the University of Delaware, earning a B.A. in history in 2008. Thereafter, he attended Touro Law Center, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2012, earning his Juris Doctor. That year, he was admitted to the N.Y.S. Bar. 

MAJ Erland began his professional career in 2013 after accepting a commission in the U.S. Army J.A.G. Corps. From 2013-16, he was assigned to Schofield Barracks, HI. There, he served as a legal assistance attorney, then as an administrative law attorney, before becoming the Trial Counsel for one of the largest infantry brigades in the U.S. Army, 2 IBCT, 25th ID. Subsequently, MAJ Erland was transferred to Fort Leonard Wood, MO, where he served as a Trial Defense Counsel, and later, Senior Defense Counsel, for the FLW TDS Office from 2016-2019. 

In those roles, he zealously defended soldiers facing court-martial while also serving as the office OIC. In 2019, MAJ Erland was selected to serve as a training officer for the Defense Counsel Assistance Program in Fort Belvoir, VA. From 2019-2021, he traveled the country instructing Defense Counsel in the art of trial advocacy. Between 2021-22, MAJ Erland attended the Graduate Course at the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, where he earned an L.L.M. Thereafter, he was selected to serve as the Special Trial Counsel for 7th ATC and V Corps (FWD) in Europe. In that role, MAJ Erland served as the lead prosecutor in a jurisdiction that spanned seven installations and more than half a dozen countries. 

MAJ Erland began serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Law and Philosophy at USMA in June 2024.