John Melkon

Mr. John Melkon

Director, Center for the Study of Civil-Military Operations

john.melkon@westpoint.edu

Biography

Mr. John Melkon is an Assistant Professor and the Civilian Director at the Center for the Study of Civil-Military Operations at the United States Military Academy. In this capacity, he is responsible for facilitating the coordination, planning, and execution of the strategic vision and mission for the Center and the education of cadets, faculty, and the community of practice. Before assuming his position at West Point, Mr. Melkon served as a Senior Operations Advisor to the United States Army Africa in Vicenza, Italy, from 2009 to 2012. He was also a Strategic Operations Officer for the Department of Defense from 2006 to 2009 with service to Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and ODYSSEY DAWN. He is a retired Special Forces Officer.  Before re-entering public service, Mr. Melkon worked as an International Banking Associate for Credit Suisse First Boston in Frankfurt, Germany.

Ongoing Research Projects

Mr. Melkon recently completed a Masters in European Politics, History, and Society at Columbia University in New York City. He has researched and authored a thesis to address Security Policy for European Migrations emerging from Africa and the Middle East. He is currently enrolled in the Enterprise Risk Management Program at Columbia.  He has also served as an adjunct instructor in the Program on Countering Transnational Organized Crime at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. He is currently leading the formation of a collaborative effort between USMA and the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and the South African Military Academy. SIGLA focuses on building leadership capacity and generating knowledge in the areas of democracy, security, governance, and leadership for sustainable development on the African continent.  Professor Melkon intends to continue his Doctoral Studies by seeking to design a research project built around this pursuit.

Publications & Presentations

Various Media:

  • Kirkpatrick, D., with J. Graham, J. Melkon, and O. Sultan. The Digital, Social Fight Against Terrorism. Techonomy NYC. May 31, 2017. Link.
  • Melkon, J., J.H. Embrey, H.R. Bader, and B.J. Mennes. (2016). "Civil-Military Interaction During Infantry Operations." In: G. Lucius, S. Rietjens (eds) Effective Civil-Military Interaction in Peace Operations. Springer, Cham. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-26806-4_10. 
  • Kuo, M.A., with J. Melkon. "US Military Leadership In Asia: Regional Role, Global Reach." The Diplomat. May 29, 2016. Link.