Barry A. Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barry Alan Johnson (b. November 5, 1962) is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army who has served worldwide as a Public Affairs Officer and Infantryman. He is currently assigned to the Pentagon.
In 2005-6, he was director of the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC) in Baghdad, where he was responsible for all aspects of media activities involving the Multi-National Force with both the international and Iraqi press. He also served as a spokesman for the Force, dealing with the wide variety of security issue facing the Coalition in Iraq each day.
Lt. Col. Johnson served two tours in Iraq. Before taking the position of CPIC director, he served as the public affairs officer and spokesman for detainee operations in 2004-5 following abuse allegations at Abu Ghraib prison. As an Army Public Affairs Officer since 1997, his other key assignments included NATO spokesman for military operations in Macedonia in 2001 to disarm Albanian rebels, and spokesman for detention and interrogation activities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003.
During 22 years of service in the Army, Lt. Col. Johnson worked in a variety of assignments throughout the world. Commissioned as an Infantry officer in 1984 from the University of Idaho, he initially served for two years in the National Guard before entering active duty in 1986. Since then, assignments included tours in Germany, Korea, the Balkans, Cuba and the Middle East, as well as various posts throughout the United States. Key positions in his early career included Infantry platoon leader and company commander, and instructing Army ROTC at Washington State University.
Lt. Col. Johnson has a bachelor degree in Business Administration from Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho and a masters degree in Communication from Washington State University.
