About John
The beneficiary of quality public school teachers and coaches in Montana, John received a Congressional nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated with academic honors while lettering in Division I sports. John then trained in the U.S. Navy as a submarine warfare officer and nuclear engineer, as well as attaining Army Airborne Parachutist and Navy SCUBA Diver qualifications.
Over a 7-year career as an active duty nuclear submarine officer, John was three times deployed overseas and participated in numerous highly classified missions. For the opening combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he coordinated a large task force of attack submarines. He also served as a submarine liaison officer to Naval Special Warfare (SEALs) supporting the global war on terrorism, and a post-command exercise manager at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) training commanding generals in expeditionary operations. For his service, he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation medal, two Navy & Marine Corps Commendation medals, and Navy & Marine Corps Achievement medal, among other honors.
While overseas on active military duty, John applied to the Troops-to-Teachers program and worked towards a teaching certificate through Montana State University. Two months after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, he began two years of differentiated service to country as a high school math and English teacher on the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation in north central Montana, helping build programs that encourage student success and recognition in one of the state’s highest needs schools.
In 2008, as the Great Recession set in, John entered the private sector as a senior engineer in the energy sector, where he has worked for the past 11 years making America energy independent, pursuing renewable clean energy, and contributing to living wage jobs in Montana and throughout the country. During this period, he also earned a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the London Business School, and provided pro bono business consulting to several organizations, including a nonprofit dedicated to reducing senior citizen loneliness.
Like so many other Montanans, John grew up with a deep love and appreciation for Montana’s countryside, from the open spaces and back roads of eastern Montana to the majestic mountains of Montana’s western half, and is committed to protecting Montana’s amazing public lands against exploitation.
John’s deep Montana roots and values, including an unwavering belief in equal rights for all, and his expertise in livable wage job creation, energy and environment, education, health care, senior citizen and veteran care, and national security ensure that he will be a U.S. Senator of whom Montana can be truly proud, and who will make a real and lasting difference in the lives of his fellow Montanans.
John and his wife Claudia, a non-profit leader, live near Loma in the north central part of Montana. John and Claudia recently welcomed their son Leo into the world, the 5th generation of John’s family to call Montana home.