Colonel John “Jay” Waters graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1987 and concurrently earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General’s Corps. He served for over 30 years in various command and staff assignments to include the Army National Military Cemetery Program at Arlington National Cemetery as well as the Director of the Physical Disability Agency in Crystal City, Virginia.
Colonel Waters’ Operational experience includes Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm with the 1st Cavalry Division as well as Operation Enduring Freedom with Joint Task Force-76. He also participated in operations during the Rwandan Civil War in 1994 and the Liberian Civil War in 2003 as part of Combined/Joint Task Forces as well as subsequent partnership programs in Romania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
He graduated from both the Adjutant General’s Corps Basic and Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School as well as the Naval War College. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
Colonel Waters’ parents both served long careers as Department of the Army Civilians at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and his dad also served in the Navy. Colonel Waters retired in October 2017 and spends time interviewing American combat veterans as part of an on-going Oral History Project. He lives in the Alexandria area with his wife Anna.
