
General James L. Jones
General James L. Jones is the former commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, where he led all military operations for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as former National Security Advisor.
Jones graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was commissioned into the Marine Corps in January 1967. He served in Vietnam before attending the Amphibious Warfare School in 1973 and the National War College in 1985, and serving as Marine Corps liaison officer to the U.S. Senate. He was also commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Northern Iraq and Turkey on Operation Provide Comfort; chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia; and commanding general, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic. Jones also served as Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 1997-99 before becoming the 32nd commandant of the United States Marine Corps in July 1999.
During his NATO assignment from 2003-2006, he advocated energy security and the defense of critical infrastructures as a core part of NATO’s future missions. In his capacity with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Jones worked to unite energy consumers and producers for a common goal - to increase the variety of the U.S. energy supply and associated infrastructures, to advance international cooperation on energy issues, to protect national energy security, and to promote better understanding of changes to the global climate and its effects on the environment.
Upon retirement in February 2007, Jones became president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy and, in 2008, served as the State Department’s Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security. From 2009 until 2010, he served as President Obama’s National Security Advisor at the White House.
General Jones - sought-after by, and distinguished among, politicians of every stripe - offers a vast wealth of knowledge and speaks with poise and authority about national and international security, energy, and leadership requirements for success in the 21st century.
General Jones joined the American-Turkish Council in January 2014 as Chairman.