John Elko

Lieutenant Colonel (ret) John A. Elko is from North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he was raised by a restaurant family. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Therapy from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in May 2003 and was commissioned as an Armor Second Lieutenant on August 8th, 2003, at Fort Lewis, Washington LTC Elko is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic Course, the Adjutant General Advanced Course, and the Army Command and General Staff College. He has attained a Master of Business Administration Degree from Webster University. During his career, LTC Elko completed overseas tours in Germany and Hawaii and served five combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007; 2008-2009) Operation Enduring Freedom (2012-2013), Operation Inherent Resolve (2015) and Operation Spartan Shield (2016-2017). His previous assignments include: Battalion Assistant S1 and Tank Platoon Leader, 1-37 Armor, Friedberg, Germany and Al Hit, Iraq; Brigade Assistant S1, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany and Ramadi, Iraq; 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Strength Manager, Wuerzburg, Germany; Joint Strength Manger, Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq; Chief, G1 Plans and Operations, US Army Pacific Contingency Command Post, Fort Shafter, Hawaii; BN S1, 3-25 Aviation, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii and Kandahar, Afghanistan; Chief, G1 Plans and Operations, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; J1 Director, CENTCOM Forward – Jordan, King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center, Amman, Jordan; Brigade S1, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas and Amman, Jordan; Officer Policy Analyst, Directorate of Manpower and Personnel Management, HQDA G1 / Chief, Military Pay Integration Branch, The Adjutant General’s Directorate, Fort Knox, Kentucky; Deployment Lead / Human Resources Agile Release Train Lead, Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army, HQDA G1, Crystal City, Virginia. Lieutenant Colonel Elko’s military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (1 bronze Oak Leaf Cluster), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (2 bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (3 bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (2 bronze Oak Leaf Clusters), the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Naval Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghan Campaign Medal (1 star), the Iraqi Campaign Medal (3 stars), the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon (with Numeral 6 device), the NATO Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. John is married to Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Gloria J Elko. Team Elko has been together for over 20 years, and have two amazing children, Sophia Marie (9), Ethan Michael (6), and a blue heeler puppy named Nebby.