Lieutenant General E. John Deedrick

Lieutenant General E. John Deedrick Jr. was commissioned in 1988 as an infantry officer. In his first assignment with the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he served as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer with a deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

In 1994, LTG Deedrick completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) where he commanded a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, a Special Forces company, and 3rd Battalion, 1st SFG (A). He deployed with the unit several times throughout Southeast Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Philippines, and Operation Iraqi Freedom as both a Joint Special Operations Task Force and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force commander. He also commanded 10th SFG (A) at Fort Carson, Colorado, and Special Operations Command-Korea in support of U.S. Forces Korea. He previously served as Commander, Combined Security Transition Command –Afghanistan (CSTC-A) and held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff Security Assistance (DCOS SA), Headquarters Resolute Support.

His staff assignments include Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, the current operations chief for the Pacific Command Theater Branch, the Chief for Global Force Management and Readiness Division at United States Special Operations Command, the Chief for Future Operations with Special Programs as well as Ground Operations Branch at Special Operations Command Pacific, and the operations officer at Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines. From May 2016 to July 2017, Deedrick served as the deputy commanding general of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), before serving as the assistant commanding general of Joint Special Operations Command.

LTG Deedrick is a graduate of the Citadel, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Air War College.