Jonathan Patrick Braga (born 19 June 1969) is a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, serving as the commanding general of

United States Army Special Operations Command The United States Army Special Operations Command (Airborne) (USASOC) is the command charged with overseeing the various Special forces, special operations forces of the United States Army. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, it i ...

since 13 August 2021. He previously served as a deputy commanding general of

United States Army Pacific The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) is an Army Service Component Command which serves as the Army service component for United States Indo-Pacific Command. It may also serve as a Joint Task Force headquarters. The command has forces in Alas ...

from August 2020 to July 2021, as commander of

Special Operations Command Pacific The Special Operations Command Pacific, known as SOCPAC, is a sub-unified command of the United States Department of Defense for special operations forces in the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility. History T ...

from July 2018 to August 2020, and before that as operations director of

Operation Inherent Resolve {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Operation Inherent Resolve , partof = the international military intervention against the Islamic State and the War on terror , image = , caption = U.S. Navy B ...

, the official name for the US war on

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. On 12 August 2021, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of the United States Army Special Operations Command one day later, succeeding Francis M. Beaudette.

Military career

Braga graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in national security public affairs, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch in 1991. His first assignment was rifle platoon leader with the 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth Army in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, followed by service with the

11th Armored Cavalry Regiment The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment ("Blackhorse Regiment") is a unit of the United States Army garrisoned at the Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. The regiment has served in the Philippine–American War, the Pancho Villa Expedi ...

Fort Irwin Fort Irwin National Training Center (Fort Irwin NTC) is a major training area for the United States military in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin is at an average elevation of . It is located northeast ...

, California. He then attended Army

Special Forces Qualification Course The Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) or, informally, the Q Course is the initial formal training program for entry into the United States Army Special Forces. Phase I of the Q Course is Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). ...

and served with the

7th Special Forces Group The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (7th SFG) (A) is an operational unit of the United States Army Special Forces activated on 20 May 1960. It was reorganized from the 77th Special Forces Group, which was also stationed at Fort Bragg, Nort ...

from 1995 to 2001 as Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) commander, Company Executive officer and Company commander. In 2002 Braga volunteered for and completed a specialized selection and operator training course for assignment to

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a special operations force of the United ...

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, North Carolina. He would serve numerous leadership positions as squadron operations officer and troop commander with deployments during

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

and Operation WILLING SPIRIT until 2005. Braga earned a master's degree from the Naval Command and Staff College,

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

in 2006 and transferred to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in Washington, D.C. Braga returned to

in 2008 and served as operations officer, Squadron Commander and Deputy Unit Commander. USASOC welcomes its newest command team 210813-A-CC123-003

USASOC welcomes its newest command team 210813-A-CC123-003

Braga's most recent assignments include: Army War College Special Operations Fellow at the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

, Garrison Commander of the National Training Center in

from 2013 to 2015; Chief of Staff at

Joint Special Operations Command The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equip ...

from 2015 to 2017 and Director of Operations, Combined Joint Task Force—

(CJTF-OIR) in Iraq. Braga assumed command as Commander, Special Operations Command, Pacific on 27 July 2018. Braga praised the collaboration with Kurdish troops on the ground during Operation Inherent resolve: In the spring of 2020, as the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

was rapidly worsening, Braga reportedly led an anti-vax

propaganda campaign White propaganda is propaganda that does not hide its origin or nature. It is the most common type of propaganda and is distinguished from black propaganda which disguises its origin to discredit an opposing cause. It typically uses standard pu ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

campaign was targeted against the Chinese-produced vaccine Sinovac CoronaVac, and intended to undermine a possible increase of Chinese influence in the country. The campaign was described as "payback" for COVID-19 disinformation by China directed against the U.S. In summer of that same year, the campaign was expanded to target Muslim-majority countries. The plan was discouraged by top

U.S. diplomats A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulat ...

in the region, and after revelations of the campaign came to light, health officials in the U.S. and internationally called the plan "indefensible" and said it "crossed a line."

Awards and decorations

Personal life

Braga is the son of Reid and Mary Braga. Braga is married to the former Melanie Rohrbaugh of Apple Valley, Calif. The couple has five children. Braga and Rohrbaugh were married on September 4, 1999, at Fort Bragg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braga, Jonathan P 1969 births Living people People from Attleboro, Massachusetts United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts United States Army Rangers College of Naval Command and Staff alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Members of the United States Army Special Forces American people of Portuguese descent COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy