During his tour of active duty as a Regular Army Captain assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps, CPT English served as a trial counsel (prosecutor) and Chief of Military Justice for three years on Okinawa, an extremely busy General Court-Martial jurisdiction during the war in Vietnam. He then served as an appellate attorney for one year. Following his discharge from active duty he served as a Defense Attorney, Military Judge, and Staff Judge Advocate for the D.C. Army National Guard until his retirement with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

As a civilian attorney he has won acquittals of active duty members in dozens of Courts-Martial since he left the Justice Department in 1986. LTC English has tried cases before Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard General Courts-Martial. He has also successfully handled non-criminal matters such as administrative elimination boards, physical evaluation boards, and the various services' boards for the correction of military records.

LTC English's military professional education includes graduating from the Army JAGC Basic Officer and Advanced Officer courses, as well as the Navy War College. Additional military training included USMC boot camp, ITR, and the combat engineer school. He later graduated from Army ROTC at the University of Virginia where he was initially commissioned as a 2LT. He was admitted to practice before the courts then known as the Court of Military Appeals in 1973 and the Army Court of Military Review in 1976.