Colonel (Ret.) Jason A. Johnston
U.S. Army Special Forces Regiment
Honorary Advisor of the Board
COL (Ret.) Johnston was born in Charlotte, NC, and enlisted in the Army in 1990 from Colorado Springs, CO as a Russian Signals Intelligence Specialist at the age of 17. In 1993, he entered the US Army Special Forces, and served with 10th Special Forces Group as a Special Forces Communications Sergeant (18E) until attending Officer’s Candidate School and Infantry Officer’s training at Ft. Benning, GA. He then served as a Bradley Platoon Leader in Korea, and as Ranger Rifle Platoon Leader in 2nd Ranger Battalion.
In 2003, COL Johnston returned to the Special Forces Qualification Course, this time as an officer (18A), and served in 3rd Special Forces Group, and other special operations assignments ranging from Special Forces Detachment (ODA) Commander, Company (AOB) Commander, Operations Officer (S3/J3), to Battalion (SOTF) Commander. COL Johnston served as Joint Task Force 20 Commander at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, and as Deputy Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He took command of 3rd Special Forces Group in June, 2020, and served three times as the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Somalia Commander in Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya before taking the role of Chief of Staff of US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).
COL Johnston is currently the lead Mentor and Executive Director for Bancroft Global Development.
EDUCATION:
- US Army War College, Carlisle, PA, MS, Strategic Studies, 2019
- Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, MS, Defense Analysis / Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, 2010
- Excelsior College (Albany, NY), BA Liberal Studies, 2001
OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
- Operation OCTAVE SHIELD/QUARTZ – Joint Special Operations Task Force – Somalia CDR x3 tours Operation RESOLUTE SUPPORT / FREEDOM’S SENTINEL (Afghanistan) x 3 tours – SOTF-A Commander, NSOCC-A/SOJTF-A CJ3, JTF 20 CDR
- Operation JUNIPER SHIELD (Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso) – SOCCE Lake Chad Basin (SOTF) CDR
- Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (Pakistan / Afghanistan) x 8 tours – Ranger Rifle Platoon Leader, SFODA CDR x2 tours, SF AOB CDR, SOTF DJ3, SOTF J3, CJSOTF DJ3, CJSOTF J3
- Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (Iraq) – SFODA CDR
- Operation COOPERATIVE NUGGET (Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) – SF ODA Communications Sergeant
- Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR (Bosnia-Herzegovina) – SF ODA Communications Sergeant (18E) Operation PROVIDE COMFORT (Turkey / Iraq) – SF ODA Communications Sergeant (18E)
OTHER RELEVANT EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- US Army Special Warfare Center – Arabic (Ft. Bragg, NC), 2004
- Defense Language Institute – Serbo-Croatian (Washington, DC), 1995
- Defense Language Institute – Russian (Monterey, CA), 1991