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Ambassador Johnson’s broad range of experience spans over five decades of government service in positions of increasing responsibility, with leadership and substantive engagement on a wide range of issues including diplomacy, national security, intelligence, counter-terrorism, insurgency, threat mitigation, conflict resolution, and human rights.

Serving as Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador from 2019 to 2021, Ambassador Johnson’s previous experience and his personable “hands-on” style of diplomacy and statesmanship advanced U.S. national priorities in measurable and historic ways.

His persistent engagement with U.S and Salvadoran law enforcement and security entities, affected the arrests of hundreds of gang members, and enabled criminal extraditions to both countries.  Violent crime and extortion rates (leading causes of illegal immigration) dropped to their lowest numbers in recorded history.  Cooperation on Counter-Narcotics increased significantly.  El Salvador became a transit country that drug traffickers went hundreds of miles out of their way to avoid.  Concurrently, overall illegal immigration to the U.S. dropped by 85% with Salvadorans accounting for less than 6% of the encounters at the U.S. Southwest border, and with no migrant caravans originating from or transiting through El Salvador.

When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, Ambassador Johnson’s personal involvement enabled U.S. citizens to fly back to the U.S. aboard chartered flights.  His embassy led the world in this global effort with over 18,000 citizens repatriated back to the U.S. over a 6-month period.

Prior to his ambassadorial appointment, Johnson served for more than twenty years as an Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  There, he led sensitive operations on a global scale, including multiple deployments to the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.  He went on to lead the Agency’s Air, Ground, and maritime, paramilitary departments and was in charge of all Agency parachute operations.  He later served as Advisor to the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, where he managed interagency collaboration between the eighteen organizations of the Intelligence Community and provided strategic geo-political advice.  He also served as CIA’s Science & Technology Liaison to the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Prior to his career with CIA, Ambassador Johnson served for over twenty years in the U.S. Army, with both peacetime and combat experience.  He initially enlisted in the Army National Guard, attended Officers Candidate School, and served in the 20^th Special Forces Group (SFG) prior to entering active duty with the 7^th SFG.  In the 7^th SFG he served multiple tours as one of the 55 U.S. military advisors during the Civil War in El Salvador.   He later served at the Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS), the Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and on the Department of the Army Staff.  He retired in 1998 as a Green Beret Colonel.

Ambassador Johnson has a Master’s in the Science of Strategic Intelligence (MSSI) from the National Intelligence University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of the State of New York.  He is the recipient of numerous awards including the State Department’s Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the military’s Legion of Merit, and the Combat Infantry Badge.  He was selected as a Special Forces Distinguished Member of the Regiment.  He is the only U.S. diplomat to be presented El Salvador’s two Highest Awards:  The Grand Order of Francisco Morazan, and the Grand Order of Jose Matias Delgado.

The Ambassador has lived overseas for over twelve years and traveled extensively.  He speaks, reads and writes Spanish.  He is married to Alina Arias Johnson, formerly of Cuba.  They have four grown children.  The youngest son served in a light infantry unit in Iraq.  The Ambassador is proud to say he is the third of four generations of Johnsons to serve the U.S. in combat.

Military Education – Highlights

U.S. Army War College	Officer Candidate School
Post Graduate Intelligence Program	Basic and Static-Line Jumpmaster Courses
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College	Military Freefall Basic and Jumpmaster Courses
Special Forces Officers Course	Pathfinder and Air Assault Courses
Defense Language Institute – Spanish/LA	Basic Combat Training Course
Infantry Officers Basic and Advanced Courses

Select Professional Memberships and Achievements

National Clandestine Service Leadership Certificate

Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society, Honorary Chair

Special Forces Association (Lifetime Member)

Special Forces Distinguished Member of the Regiment

Curriculum Vitae

 RONALD D. JOHNSON

U.S. Ambassador (Retired)

Miami, Florida  33186

Phone: 786-747-9681

Email: AMBORonJohnson@gmail.com

CIVILIAN EDUCATION (highlights)

National Intelligence University, Washington, DC. 

Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence (MSSI), August 1994

State University of New York; Albany, New York

Bachelor of Science, 1990

MILITARY EDUCATION (highlights)

Army War College, Carlisle, PA.

Post Graduate Intelligence Program (PGIP), Washington, DC.

Command and General Staff College (CGSC), Leavenworth, KS.

Special Forces Officers Course, Fort Bragg, NC.

LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATIONS

National Clandestine Service Leadership Certificate

United States Parachute Association: Expert License: D-10122 (Pro-rated, AFFI & Tandem Instructor)

Underwater (SCUBA) Diving:  PADI Advanced Open Water; Closed-Circuit Diver

SECURITY CLEARANCE: TS-SCI

SKILLS SUMMARY

• Senior Leader: Led a U.S. Embassy with about 1,500 employees from roughly 19 U.S. government organizations and directly representing the President of the United States as Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador.  Led in multiple assignments in the U.S. Intelligence Community in domestic assignments and in high-risk and austere foreign locations.  Retired from the U.S. military as a Special Forces Colonel with experience in leading troops in combat and peacetime operations and senior staff experience.  Over 50 years of total government service.
• Diplomat: Served as the senior U.S. diplomat and a member of the international diplomatic corps in El Salvador.  Maintained a strong relationship with other diplomats, including the Vatican’s representative to El Salvador, the Apostolic Nuncio, Santo Rocco Gangemi.
• Senior educator: Senior Fellow at Florida International University (FIU).  Instructor at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations University.  Frequent briefer and keynote speaker for multiple government and civilian organizations.  Experience in developing and implementing complex curricula, with a firm understanding of joint, interagency methodologies at the tactical, strategic, and policy levels.
• Experience in supporting hundreds of missions on a worldwide scale. Including humanitarian, peacekeeping, security, and crisis response.
• Proven contingency planner, including sensitive missions of national strategic importance involving partner-nation allies, air and maritime platforms, and thousands of personnel. Planned and executed high-threat, austere, operations, in denied areas.
• Proficient in the Spanish language.

Experience:

U.S. Department of State; Washington, DC                                                           2019 to 2021

Ambassador / Chief-of-Mission – Republic of El Salvador

• Responsible for the full range of U.S. engagement with the government, civil society and the people of El Salvador. Engaged routinely with a diplomatic corps with representatives from multiple other nations.  Met frequently with U.S. and foreign press/media.
• Provided guidance and leadership to an embassy staff of about 1,500 people, representing over 19 different government agencies with diverse missions and authorities.
• Responsible for the safety and security of a larger embassy community of spouses and families and responsible for providing citizen services to over 25,000 U.S. citizens.
• Met frequently with the President of El Salvador and served as interlocutor between the U.S. and Salvadoran Presidents.
• Led a diverse community of U.S. government employees, dependents, and U.S. citizens in El Salvador throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Developed strong working relationships with U.S. government, and international entities such as the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Center for Disease Control; and non-government organizations (NGOs) such as, “Friends Helping Friends,” youth groups, religious groups and many other organizations.
• Coordinated closely with NGO volunteer organizations and contributors to assist the victims of the COVID pandemic and other occurring natural disasters/crises. Secured a donation of much needed ventilators and medical supplies from the President of the U.S. relieving suffering and saving countless Salvadoran lives.
• Worked with U.S. and Salvadoran law enforcement entities to affect the arrests of hundreds of gang members, and enabled criminal extraditions to both countries, helping to lower violent crime in El Salvador to its lowest numbers in recorded history.
• Coordinated with U.S. and Salvadoran authorities to interdict hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illegal narcotics transiting through the borders and in the waters near El Salvador. Also worked to fight and reduce human trafficking in the region.

Central Intelligence Agency; McLean, VA                                                             1998 to 2019

Senior Operations Officer                                                                                                                                                

• Planed and implemented sensitive operations on a global scale, including multiple deployments to the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• Led the Agency’s Air, Ground, and maritime, paramilitary departments and was in charge of all Agency parachute operations.
• Served as Advisor to the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, managing interagency collaboration between the eighteen organizations of the Intelligence Community and providing strategic geo-political advice.
• Served as CIA’s Science & Technology Liaison to the U.S. Special Operations Command.

 U.S. Army; multiple locations                                                                                 1971 to 1998

Special Forces Officer                                                                                                                                                                                                          

• Enlisted in the Alabama Army National Guard and completed Basic Combat Training, Officers Candidate School and Special Forces Qualifications before entering full-time active duty in 1983.
• Commanded a Special Forces Detachment in Combat operations as one of the 55 authorized U.S. Advisors during El Salvador’s Civil War. Advised the Salvadoran military on tactical and operational strategies, and on Human Rights and international requirements for treatment of enemy combatants.
• Served as a special advisor to the commander of the U.S. Army’s Special Warfare Center and Schools and to the commander of all Army Special Operations Forces.
• Served in the Pentagon as a member of the Army Staff.
• Deployed on sensitive operations working with joint U.S. Special Mission Unit personnel and Intelligence organizations to apprehend Persons Indicted for War Crimes in the Balkans.

    PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Honorary Chair, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society
• Special Forces Association, lifetime member
• United States Parachute Association

PROFFESIONAL PUBLICATIONS

• “Why Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal puts US citizens in danger here at home.” Fox News Opinion, September 2, 2021
• “Just 3 weeks later, true horrors of Biden’s Afghanistan fiasco are surreal.” Fox News Opinion, September 24, 2021.
• “Ukraine and Russia may use ‘unconventional warfare’ strategies, former CIA officer says.” Fox News, March 21, 2022.

HONORS, AWARDS & SPECIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS (highlights)

• Department of State: Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service
• Department of Defense: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the military’s Legion of Merit, and the Combat Infantry Badge.
• S. Army Special Forces: Special Forces Distinguished Member of the Regiment, 2023.
• El Salvador’s two Highest Awards: The Grand Order of Francisco Morazan, and the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado.
• 2^nd Degree Black Belt – Tae Kwon Do.

PERSONAL

Married for over 40 years to Registered Nurse and former Cuban citizen, Alina Arias Johnson.  Four grown children and eight grandchildren.