John Anthony Gastright, Jr. is the Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at Amentum, past Chairman of the International Stability Operations Association and President of the Project 2049 Institute.

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From January 2008 to February 2021, he was the Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, Communications and Afghanistan Operations at DynCorp International. From March 2005 to December 2007, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and the U.S. Interagency Coordinator for Afghanistan. From June 2004 to March 2005, he was the Director for House Affairs at the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and from March 2003 to June 2004 he served as Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

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Prior to service at the State Department, Mr. Gastright served as a congressional staffer in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate from 1995 to 2003. From 1988 to 1994, he was an officer in the United States Navy and from 1987 to 1988 he served as a City of Charleston South Carolina Police Officer.

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He has been awarded Master’s Degrees from the Catholic University of America, the Naval War College and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Citadel.

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John Gastright and his wife Kendra have three children. They reside on a family farm in Croom, Maryland.