Major General John R. Evans, Jr was commissioned in 1988 as a Distinguished Military Graduate from Appalachian State University.

Before arriving at Cadet Command, Major General Evans served as Commanding General, United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command (Airborne).

After completing flight school, he was assigned as an Attack Platoon Leader in C / 1-82nd Aviation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC where he served in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.  Upon departing Fort Bragg in 1995, he served his first of three tours with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) which included duties as A Company Commander; Regiment S3; Regiment Operational Assessment Element Commander; Regiment Deputy Commander; Battalion Commander, 2nd Battalion; and Regiment Commander, Fort Campbell, KY.

Other assignments include: Deputy Commanding Officer of the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan, Kabul Afghanistan; Chief of Staff of the Army Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; and the Deputy Commanding General – Support for 2nd Infantry Division / Republic of Korea - US Combined Division in the Republic of Korea.  He has served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Major General Evans is a graduate of the Armor Advanced Course, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Naval War College. He holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education from Kansas State University, and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

Major General Evans’ military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star with three oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with V device and numeral 2.

He is married to the former Carolyn Ruppel of Nashville, TN and they have two daughters.