Jeff Jager

Jeff Jager, a retired U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO), served in a variety of strategic defense diplomacy roles in Europe and the Middle East. His last assignment was as the senior military advisor in the Office of Euro-Atlantic Security Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where he provided a broad range of military advice regarding conventional arms control policy to the Assistant Secretary and managed inter-agency and international coordination and consensus building. Prior to this assignment, Jeff served at the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) in Lebanon, first as the Foreign Military Sales Officer and later as the ODC Chief, where he led a team responsible for building the capability of the Lebanese Armed Forces in support of U.S. foreign policy objectives. Jeff also served as a liaison officer embedded in the Turkish Land Forces, where he supported U.S. and Turkish efforts to develop leaders, increase interoperability, and build lethal, decisive ground forces. His first FAO assignment was as the Deputy Defense Attaché and Chief of Defense Cooperation in Cyprus, where he advised senior leaders on defense, intelligence, and national security issues. Prior to becoming a FAO, Jeff served as an infantry officer, leading small units and serving as a staff officer during training in Germany and Kansas, an operational deployment to Kosovo, and two combat deployments to Iraq, where he commanded two infantry companies during “the surge” in 2007-2008.

Education
PhD Student, International Relations, Salve Regina University
MA, International Relations, Webster University
MA, Security Studies, Turkish Army War College
MA, German and European Studies, Georgetown University
Graduate Certificate, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Georgetown University
Graduate Certificate, International and Regional Security, Webster University
BS, Environmental Engineering, United States Military Academy
AA, Turkish, Defense Language Institute 
Graduate, U.S. Army War College Defense Strategy Course
Graduate, U.S. Army Infantry Officer Basic Course and Infantry Officer Captain’s Career Course

Countries/regions of expertise
Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, Turkey, Lebanon, Cyprus

Issues of expertise
National Security, Defense Policy, Military Affairs, Security Assistance/Security Cooperation, Conventional Arms Control, Diplomacy

Languages
Turkish