For Joe Michaud, law and the military went hand-in-hand, and after a 30-year military career, he’s ready to call it quits.

The Dartmouth resident, attorney, and former Select Board member officially retired from the United States Army on June 1. He entered the army as a private, and retires with the rank of lieutenant colonel, having most recently served as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG).

Michaud never expected to enter law. Even on graduation day at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he had picked up a history degree, he had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. So, he joined the army in 1986 during a turbulent period of the Cold War.

Early into his new career, Michaud distinguished himself with an unexpected and equally uncommon skill for the 1980s.

“I was working in the motor pool one day and someone asked, ‘Anyone know how to use a computer?’” Michaud recalled. “I became the subject matter expert for the entire battalion.”

Michaud later went back to college, needing a master’s degree to become an officer. He attended Sam Houston State University, intending to complete his PhD in history and pursue a career as a history professor. When he asked the chair of the history department what the salary prospects were for that line of work, he again changed course.

“I like eating too much for that,” Michaud said.

A few years later, Michaud graduated from law school, and soon received an offer to serve as an JAG officer. Through that position, Michaud served a number of roles, but none sticks out more than his final mission with the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies.

The Department of Defense organization provides legal training to military officers in developing countries. JAG officers teach the law of war, treaty compliance, humanitarian and ethical issues, and other matters of legal theory. The program is intended to bring modern military rules of law to developing countries. Michaud worked with militaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, and Uganda.

“Total war was a concept for them, in that everything and everyone was a target,” Michaud said. “We teach that when you take over a village, you can’t rape and pillage. They’re now under your protection.”

He traveled to Africa about a half-dozen times, spending between three and four weeks at a time on the ground there. Michaud developed a close bond with the soldiers he trained and the communities he visited. He introduced soldiers to the army’s ubiquitous “Hooah” chant, which soon spread to the high echelons of the Congolese military. He made it a point to bring at least a half dozen soccer balls with him on each return trip after spotting children at a school kicking around a burlap sack filled with rocks.

“I saw the kids’ faces light up because they’ve never had an actual soccer ball to play with,” Michaud said.

Spending months on end in a developing country did take a toll on Michaud, however. Modern amenities like air conditioning and electricity were rare, and transportation infrastructure was in poor shape.

“Driving out there was crazy,” Michaud recalled. “Streetlights and street signs were suggestions, not requirements.”

It’s one of the reasons Michaud made the decision to retire, in addition to spending more time with his family and law practice.

Now he’s looking forward to his very first summer free of international travel and military duties, although he has no intent of slowing down in his other ventures. He’s also public administrator for Bristol County, managing estates of those who pass away without a will, and is active with the South Coast Chamber of Commerce and the Waterfront Historic Area League.