(News Release)
SOUTH AMBOY – Lieutenant Colonel John F. O’Connell was recently selected by Lieutenant General Richard Harding, Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, to be the new Air National Guard Assistant to the Command Staff Judge Advocate, United States Air Forces – Europe (USAFE)/Air Forces – Africa (AFAFRICA) and has also been nominated for promotion to full colonel. O’Connell’s promotion to colonel must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before it becomes official.
Col. O’Connell, a former TOPGUN graduate following the first Gulf War, is a 2012 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, located at historic Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC, where he was awarded a Master of Science in National Security and Resource Strategy. O’Connell also graduated as an Afghanistan/Pakistan Fellow – a Fellowship Program created by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Col. O’Connell’s most recent assignment was as Staff Judge Advocate to 177th Fighter Wing. In his new position with USAFE/AFAFRICA, Col. O’Connell serves as the advisor to the Command Staff Judge Advocate, USAFE/AFAFRICA on all Air National Guard matters. Col. O’Connell also advises and assists the Director of the ANG (DANG), The Judge Advocate General (TJAG), and the ANG Assistant to TJAG on matters of programs, policy, operations and the utilization of ANG judge advocates and paralegals and the interface of Air Force, Air Force Reserve and ANG legal programs, as well as review proposals and makes recommendations incident to AF/ANG interface on matters of programs, policy, operations and utilization. As an ANG Assistant, Col O’Connell also sits on the TJAG ANG Council – an advisory body comprised of about a dozen colonels and general officers.
Col. O’Connell recently returned to South Amboy after an extended active duty tour in our nation’s capitol as a war college student and serving on the ANG Crisis Action Team and the Secretary of the Air Force Office of the Inspector General. O’Connell said he is humbled to be selected as an ANG Assistant. “It is both a privilege and honor to be selected for this position as well as promotion to colonel, “ said Col O’Connell, “and as I told my staff at the 177th Fighter Wing, while this may be a promotion for one individual, it is a team’s achievement. Everything we have done and accomplished – including individual awards and accolades during my tenure as Staff Judge Advocate could not have been achieved without the team effort.”
Col. O’Connell’s new assignment is considered a “Traditional Guard” position – military vernacular for “part-time” – so it has allowed Col. O’Connell to return to a part-time military role as well as his full-time civilian employment with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. O’Connell said he is looking forward to settling back into his home here in South Amboy and getting back into a “routine.” Never one to stay idle, O’Connell – a former chairman and executive director of the South Amboy Redevelopment Agency – O’Connell was appointed by Mayor Henry to a seat on the Agency and is eager to roll his sleeves up and help the City move its redevelopment efforts forward.
