Have you met? …. LN2 Tylice McKenzie

When you walk into her office you can tell that LN2 Tylice McKenzie does not like clutter. But, this Bronx, New York, native does like what she does as a paralegal and right-hand person to the Staff Judge Advocate.

“I enjoy my job. Every day,” she says. “Why not do something you love?”

McKenzie said she entered the U.S. Navy as a Seabee. Knowing that she wanted to retire from the Navy, she knew it would be physically hard “to do 20 as a Seabee.” So, she cross-rated to legalman.

“This is my first duty station as a legal-man and each member I assist is different,” McKenzie said. Her job entails providing legal assistance in such things as wills and estates, tax, research, preparing records of hearings, investigations, courts-martial, and courts of inquiry, and helping personnel prepare legal forms, letters and requests.

“One tax client I assisted was about 80 years old, and when I told him tax preparation was ‘self-service,’ he took his time and was actually willing to do it (file his taxes). Most aren’t comfortable with it.”

The 8-year Navy veteran adds, “Working one-on-one with people makes me a better person. And, I want to be the best legalman and JAG right-hand paralegal.”

When she’s not working, you can find McKenzie outside, cutting her grass, hiking, barbecuing and enjoying the sunlight. Or, inside playing video games or “playing” with all her electronics.

“Yes,” she admits, “I’m a ‘techie.’ I’m single, so I can spoil myself.”

One thing McKenzie says people don’t know about her is that she is covered in tattoos, from her elbows up. And her pet peeve is people who make sucking noises as they try to get food unstuck from their teeth.

She says she believes that Lt. Michael Johnson, SJA, is “the best JAG ever. He is molding me into a paralegal that will stand out.”