Admiral Johnson will discuss his service in the national security policy arena as a military officer, as well as the many rewards, profound satisfaction, and sense of fulfillment to be found in public service. He will also speak to the tradition of generations of Bowdoin graduates who have served in national security roles and the need for future generations to do so if our nation is to survive as a healthy, functioning democracy.

Admiral Gregory G. Johnson (USN-Ret.) is a retired United States Navy admiral and the former commander of US Naval Forces, Europe and Allied Forces, Southern Europe. After graduating from the University of Maine, Admiral Johnson attended Aviation Officer Candidate School, was commissioned in 1969, and designated a naval aviator in 1970. In his long and distinguished military career, he commanded at every level—squadron, air wing, battle group, fleet, and force. From 1970 to 1995, Johnson held sea duty assignments, making multiple deployments in USS Independence, USS Nimitz, USS Forrestal, USS Eisenhower, and USS Theodore Roosevelt. He served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the head of the European and Central Command Branch of the Joint Operations Division (JOD) and subsequently as executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin L. Powell. As a flag officer, Admiral Johnson served as commander, Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group; military assistant to the Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (Bowdoin Class of 1962); commander, US Sixth Fleet; and commander, US Naval Forces, Europe and Allied Forces, Southern Europe. He graduated from the Naval War College Command and Staff Course with high distinction. Upon his retirement from the Navy in December 2004, Johnson started Snow Ridge Associates, a strategic advice and consulting firm. He has served or serves on numerous civic, public, and private boards and resides in Harpswell, Maine, with his wife, Carol Hancock.

A live-stream of this talk will be available on the Bowdoin Talks webpage: https://www.bowdoin.edu/talks/live/index.html

Seating for this event is first-come, first-served.

Sponsored by the Everett P. Pope Lecture Fund.