JJ spent 5 years on a West Coast Sea Air Land (SEAL) Team and with the Naval Special Warfare Command (WARCOM). On the active duty WARCOM Staff he was Acting Director of Global Current Operations, Deputy Director Global Current Operations, Central and Pacific Commands Desk Officer, Acting Force Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Officer, and Future Concepts and Combat Development Action Officer. JJ was also Executive Officer of the Major Command WARCOM Reserve Headquarters.

For his last combat tour, JJ was mobilized to Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM during 2011-2012. He was assigned to Commander, US Forces Afghanistan Operations Directorate (J3) in Kabul and further assigned to Commander, US Forces Afghanistan, WEST as Director of Operations and Intelligence (J3/J2) and Acting Region Commander of US Forces. Concurrently, he was Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Combat Drive Team and Personal Security Detachment (PSD) where more than 110 missions were executed outside the wire with all hands returning alive. He personally commanded the most dangerous missions such as reconnaissance and Admiral, General and civilian equivalent protection in areas known for vehicle and personal-borne IEDs, rockets and small arms fire. As Director of Safety, he achieved a historic milestone as the first Region to be compliant in all safety categories.

At the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, JJ’s Masters of Science work was Information Technology Systems with emphasis on Intelligence. He also completed the Naval War College Strategy and Policy curriculum.

JJ retired from the Navy in September 2012 after more than 20 years of honorable service. He also has more than a decade of civilian experience in the aerospace-defense industry as Program Manager (PM) and Systems Engineer (SE) for Space Systems in National, Defense and Advanced Programs. JJ was also PM and SE of advanced radar programs for US and foreign fighter aircraft.

During JJ’s tour at NPS, he was also Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for internet start-up BotBeat.com. After securing $165K in venture capital funding, he travelled and built a nationwide, virtual team of 14 and achieved an independent valuation of $2 million in 4 months.