Colonel John S. Hurley assumed command of the Japan Engineer District on July 9th, 2013. Prior to this assignment, COL Hurley served as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Transatlantic Division (TAD). As Deputy Division Commander, he was responsible for numerous aspects of the Division’s operations as TAD served as the lead design and construction agent for the Department of Defense in the 20 countries in the Middle East from Egypt through Pakistan. This multi-billion dollar program included military construction, contingency construction in Iraq and Afghanistan, and foreign military sales.
COL Hurley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and was commissioned in the Army Corps of Engineers in May 1989. He has held a variety of leadership, command and staff positions in the 14th Engineer Battalion at Fort Ord, CA, the 65th Engineer Battalion (Light) at Schofield Barracks, HI, and the 326th Engineer Battalion (Air Assault) at Ft Campbell, KY. During these assignments, he deployed numerous times to include Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Following graduate school at Northwestern University, COL Hurley was an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy, where he taught Leadership and Sociology. He also worked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Naples, Italy, where he was a member of an international team supervising the construction of a new Joint Forces Command headquarters for NATO. He worked closely with the Italian Air Force in a construction, contract and program management oversight role.
COL Hurley commanded the Buffalo District, USACE, from 2006 to 2008. In that capacity, he was responsible for navigation, flood risk management, regulatory and environmental remediation missions for USACE along the Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and St Lawrence River watersheds. Following command of this civil works district, he served as the Military Assistant and later Executive Officer for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (ASA-CW) from 2008-2010.
COL Hurley also holds a Master of Arts degree in Sociology. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri, a register Project Management Professional and is Ranger, Airborne and Air Assault qualified. He has attended Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms Service Staff School, and the Command and General Staff College.
He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal and the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal.
COL Hurley and his wife Janetlee are native New Yorkers and were married in 1993. They have four children.