Colonel Ben Johnson was the 2021-22 senior US Army fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.  

Prior to his current role, Johnson was a student at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and before that, he served as the logistics branch proponent chief at Fort Lee, Virginia, assisting Fort Lee in revising operations to continue trainee flow at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2017 to 2019, Johnson commanded Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, California, leading approximately 1,400 Department of the Army civilians, soldiers, and contracted employees. 

He served on the First Corps Staff at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington from 2015 to 2017, during which he deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan as the deputy chief of staff for support for the Train, Advise, and Assist Command-South. From 2013 to 2015, Johnson was the executive officer to the logistics branch of US Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From 2011 to 2013, he served in various positions with Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, including service on a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.  

Johnson served as the support operations officer for a Stryker Brigade at JBLM from 2007 to 2009, including during a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2009. From 2005 to 2006, he served as the logistics branch officer in a Military Intelligence Brigade at JBLM. Johnson commanded a maintenance company in the Second Infantry Division at Camp Casey, South Korea from 2003 to 2005. Prior to that, Johnson served in various logistics positions with the First Armored Division in Germany, including a deployment to Kosovo in 2000. 

Johnson is a native of East Wenatchee, Washington and was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Gonzaga University. His education includes a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering, a master of business administration from Webster University, and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College. In 2010, Johnson attended the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Johnson’s awards and decorations include two Bronze Stars, six Meritorious Service Medals, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, the Parachutist Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.