John Riester

About John Riester

I\'m a results-driven IT and cybersecurity executive with 27 years of progressive leadership, delivering resilient enterprise communications, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity operations, and strategic information systems in mission-critical, global environments. I have directed large-scale, diverse teams professionals across military, civilian, and contractor roles) to build, secure, operate, and defend complex networks (both classified and unclassified) across fixed and deployed settings worldwide. My proven strengths include global team leadership and talent development, cybersecurity risk management and defense, strategic planning with stakeholder engagement, enterprise cloud and network infrastructure, incident response and resilience engineering, and program portfolio management. Highlights from recent roles: As Chief Information Officer at Joint Special Operations Command, led global IT strategy, managed $740M+ budgets supporting users, unified IT leadership functions to accelerate cloud and data solutions, divested $100M in legacy systems for agile reinvestment, and earned the highest Top Secret network cybersecurity inspection score in DoD history.Commanded forward-deployed operations in Europe, reducing legacy assets by 30%($109M savings), fielding mobile command nodes integrating real-time data/intelligence, and enabling secure support across 53 countries.Directed defensive cyber operations for massive enterprise networks (7M+ endpoints), hardened millions of systems, rapidly deployed 1M-user collaboration tools during COVID-19, and led high-impact responses to major supply chain attacks.Pioneered DoD cloud migration strategies, delivering award-winning plans, negotiating $950M enterprise contracts ahead of mandates, and projecting $100M+ savings through cloud-first approaches.

Experience

1. Chief Information Officer, Joint Special Operations Command (Jsoc)

   United States Air Force

   Jul 2024 — Present · Fort Liberty, NC, US

   Served as the senior IT executive directing global strategy and execution for mission-critical command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence capabilities supporting joint special operations forces and commanders worldwide-Led a diverse team of more than 500 cross-service personnel (military, civilian, and contractors) while managing an annual budget exceeding $740 million to deliver reliable IT services for users across garrison and austere deployed environments-Unified Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Data Officer functions to accelerate adoption of cloud-based data management, analytics, and secure transport solutions, ensuring uninterrupted command and control in challenging, remote settings-Oversaw a multi-billion-dollar ($3B+) global network portfolio; successfully divested $100 million in outdated legacy systems and redirected funds to modern, agile technologies that enhanced operational flexibility and efficiency-Achieved the highest cybersecurity inspection score in Department of Defense history on the top-secret intelligence network through rigorous risk management, compliance enhancements, and proactive defense measures.

Education

• Marine Corps University

  Master of Science - MS

  2015 — 2016

• Louisiana Tech University

  BS, Computer Information Systems

  1999 — 2002

• Samuel Clemens High School

  High School Diploma

  1997 — 1999

• National Defense University

  Master of Science - MS

  2019 — 2020

• Touro University California

  Masters of Science, Information Technology Management

  2004 — 2006