TOUR LECTURERS
John E. Chere, Jr.
John E. Chere Jr. (Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired) is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BA, 1982) and Columbia University (MA, 1992) in International Affairs and Middle East history. He served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army, including over 20 years as an Infantry Officer and more than a decade as a Foreign Area Officer serving predominantly in the Middle East and North Africa.
His assignments included service at Headquarters, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) in charge of all Middle East and Central Asia political-military operations and served postings at U.S. Embassies in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel and Iraq as the Department of Defense representative to the Embassy staff and the host nation. John retired from the Army in 2015 and is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Instructor at the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, where he teaches International Security Cooperation, U.S. diplomacy and Middle East regional studies.
Born in Saigon to a French mother and an American diplomat father, John brings a lifelong international perspective to his teaching and experience. He lives in Santa Rosa, California, with his wife Kathryn, and is also a level 2 WSET wine educator and tour guide at Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, California. Cheers and Go Bears!
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