Rear Adm. John Watkins is a native of San Diego, California. He is a 1991 graduate of the University of San Diego where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Training Corps program. He joined U.S. Space Command as the Deputy J3 for Information Warfare in June of 2021.

He was originally a surface warfare officer serving as an engineering officer aboard USS Ingersoll (DD 990). Following his initial sea tour, Watkins attended the Naval Postgraduate School obtaining a Master of Science in Information Technology Management in addition to laterally transferring into the Information Professional community in 2000.

Watkins’ staff assignments include Naval Space Command, Naval Satellite Operations Center, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Commander Naval Surface Forces, Chief of Naval Operations N2/N6 Directorate, assistant chief of staff for C4I, N6, U.S. Third Fleet, Chief Staff    officer for Naval Information Forces West, and most recently as chief of staff and then deputy commander, Fleet Cyber Command and commander U.S. Tenth Fleet.

His operational tours include assignments as executive officer USS Coronado (AGF 11) forward deployed in support of U.S. Seventh Fleet, assistant chief of staff for C4I, N6, Expeditionary Strike Group Three forward deployed to Commander U.S. Fifth  Fleet, and as the Information Warfare commander and assistant chief of staff for C4I, N6, Carrier Strike Group 9 embarked aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS George Washington (CVN 73).

His command tours include Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station San Diego, Navy Information Operations Command Texas, and the Naval Information Warfighting Development Center, Norfolk, Virginia.

Last Updated: 8 March 2024