Brig. General John Johns (Ret.)

General Johns served 26 years as a combat arms officer, retiring in 1978 as a brigadier general. He served in command positions up to Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Infantry Division and held numerous staff positions, including 8 years on the Army General Staff, culminating his career as Director for Human Resources Development. In 1960, General Johns began a series of assignments focused on counterinsurgency strategy and doctrine. He was on a committee at the Special Warfare School in 1961 that developed the first Counterinsurgency course and went to Vietnam in 1962, where he was senior advisor to the Vietnam Political Warfare School, and returned to serve in a series of staff positions on the Army General Staff. Through these staff positions, General Johns focused on the nation-building role of the U.S. military. His recommendations were distributed as policy guidance for the development of counterinsurgency doctrine and curricula. While serving in the office of the army chief of staff, he served on a committee that monitored war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Vietnam. General Johns is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, the National War College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He has masters' degrees in psychology and international relations, and a doctorate in sociology.