Colonel John “Coke” Blocher received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in 1999. He is a senior pilot with over 1,500 flying hours in the A/OA-10 “Warthog” and the AT-38 as an Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals Instructor Pilot. Col. Blocher has flown over 150 combat hours in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and deployed as a Battalion Air Liaison Officer and Joint Terminal Attack Controller with the 3rd Infantry Division in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, during which his accomplishments earned him both the Bronze Star for heroism and Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor.
Col. Blocher most recently served as the Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and as Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Russia/Ukraine Team following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. Before that he was a National Defense Fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security of the Atlantic Council. He has previously served as Commander of the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron, as a Flight Instructor and Examiner, as Wing Executive Officer, and as an Olmsted Scholar, attending Corvinus University of Budapest and earning his Masters of the Arts in International Relations in 2011. Colonel Blocher is married to the former Ms. Jamie Hatch and is the father of three boys, Jack, currently a fourth class cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, Cole and Cooper.
EDUCATION:
1999 Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering, United States Air Force Academy
2003 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL
2007 Master of the Arts in Education, Touro University International
2009 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2009 Defense Language Institute (Hungarian)
2011 Master of the Arts in International Relations, Corvinus University of Budapest
2014 Air War College, by correspondence
2019 National Defense Fellow, Atlantic Council, Washington D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. August 1999 – February 2000, Assistant Scheduler, 347th Operations Support Squadron, Moody AFB, Georgia
2. February 2000 – November 2000, student, VT-3, Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Whiting Field Naval Air Station, Florida
3. November 2000 – June 2001, student, 25th Flying Training Squadron, Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Oklahoma
4. June 2001 – September 2001, student, 49th Flying Training Squadron, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, Moody AFB, Georgia
5. June 2001 – May 2002, student, 358th Fighter Training Squadron, Initial A-10 Qualification, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
6. May 2002 – June 2005, A/OA-10 Pilot, Flight Lead, Forward Air Controller, 75th Fighter Squadron, Pope AFB, North Carolina; Battalion Air Liaison Officer, Task Force 2-69 Armor, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Baghdad, Iraq; A/OA-10 Pilot, Flight Lead, Forward Air Controller, 75th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Bagram AB, Afghanistan
7. July 2005 – May 2008, Instructor Pilot, T-38C Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals Course, Chief of Scheduling, Flight Commander, Flight Examiner, 88 FTS, Sheppard AFB, Texas
8. May 2008 – August 2011, Olmsted Scholar, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
9. August 2011 – April 2014, Instructor Pilot, T-38C Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals Course, Wing Executive Officer, 80th Flying Training Wing, Sheppard AFB, Texas
10. April 2014 – June 2015, Director of Operations, 9th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Hood Army Installation, Texas
11. July 2015 – May 2017, Commander, 13th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Carson Army Installation, Colorado
12. June 2017 – July 2019, Military Assistant to the Commander, Allied Joint Force Command, Brunssum, the Netherlands
13. July 2019 – May 2020, National Defense Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council, Washington D.C.
14. June 2020 – March 2022, Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Chief of Staff for Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, the Pentagon
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS:
1. June 2017 – July 2019, Military Assistant to the Commander, Allied Joint Force Command, Brunssum, the Netherlands
2. June 2020 – July 2022, Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the Pentagon
FLIGHT INFORMATION:
Rating: Senior Pilot Flight hours: More than 1,500, including 150 Combat hours
Aircraft Flown: A/OA-10, AT-38B, T-38C
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:
Defense Superior Service Medal
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Army Commendation Medal
Air Force Combat Action Medal
PUBLICATIONS:
“Conditions for Visegrad Defense Cooperation: A Transatlantic View,” Foreign Policy Review, 2011. (https://kki.hu/assets/upload/Foreign_Policy_Review_2011_01_Conditions_for_Visegrad_D_.pdf)
“Unexpected competition: A US strategy to keep its Central and Eastern European allies as allies in an era of great-power competition,” Atlantic Council, November 2020. (https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/unexpected-competition/)
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION:
Second Lieutenant June 2, 1999 First Lieutenant June 2, 2001 Captain June 2, 2003 Major Dec. 1, 2008 Lieutenant Colonel May 1, 2014
Colonel June 1, 2020
(Current as of July 2022)