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Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Jason Amerine is a 1993 graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point) with a Bachelor of Science in Arabic.

As an infantryman, Amerine’s military assignments included the 442nd Infantry, Fort DeRussy, Hawaii; 5/87th Infantry, Fort Davis, Panama; and the Joint Security Force Company, Pan Mun Jom, Republic of Korea.

In 1998, he was selected to attend the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course. Upon graduation, he was re-branched from the Infantry to Special Forces and was given command of ODA 572 (Operational Detachment A-Team) at Ft. Campbell as part of 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and later commanded ODA 574.

One of Amerine’s most significant combat operations involved working hand-in-hand with Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, in establishing an opposition force to conduct guerilla warfare in the Pashtun tribal belt of southern Afghanistan in November 2001. For their valor behind enemy lines against the Taliban, the men of ODA 574 were awarded three silver stars, five bronze stars for valor, and two bronze stars. Every man on ODA 574 was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat.

Jason Amerine went on to receive a Masters in International Affairs from the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M in 2003. In 2004, Amerine was assigned as an assistant professor of International Relations in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He later served as an assistant professor of Arabic in the Department of Foreign Languages.

Following his assignment at West Point, Amerine worked as a strategist at the United States Pacific Command where he focused on military policy issues related to China and the Pacific. He was then assigned to the Army Staff at the Pentagon where he led a team of strategists who focused on global issues including hostage policy the recovery of SGT Bergdahl.