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Marines


Biography

 

Colonel John D. Cowart
Commanding Officer
Marine Corps Advisor Company A


Colonel John Cowart is a native of  Texarkana, Texas and enlisted in 1991. He served as a Mortarman with Company I, Third Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines. He was meritoriously promoted to Corporal and awarded the Navy - Marine Corps Achievement Medal while earning a BS in History from Texas A&M University – Texarkana. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and graduated from Field Artillery Officer Basic Course.

From 1996 Col. Cowart served as the Alpha 1/11 FO and Platoon Commander with BLT 1/1, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) during Operation Southern Watch. He concurrently served as the USS Juneau Team Embarkation Officer. He deployed again as the Bravo 1/11 Battery XO with BLT 3/1, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (SOC) during Operation Desert Fox. He simultaneously served as the USS Anchorage XO of Troops. He worked with foreign security forces during this time and was awarded his second Navy - Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He then served as the First Battalion, Eleventh Marines Logistics Officer aboard the USS Essex during the First Marine Division’s Kernel Blitz amphibious assault exercise in 1999.

Col. Cowart then left active duty to pursue a law enforcement career. He was activated in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as a Company Commander in First Maintenance Battalion, 1st FSSG. After demobilization in 2004 he joined India Company, Third Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines and became the Company Commander. From September to December of 2006 he completed the Infantry Officer’s Course. After returning to his unit and preparing it to deploy he was awarded the Navy - Marine Corps Commendation Medal. In 2007 he led his infantry company during their deployment to Haditha, Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for partnering with Iraqi Security Forces to stabilize his company’s assigned battlespace.

Col. Cowart then served as his battalion’s Operations Officer through Exercise Javelin Thrust at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) in 2009. He then served as the Battalion Executive Officer through Exercise Javelin Thrust at MWTC in 2010. He then deployed as the acting OIC of the Second Marine Division (Forward) Provincial Police Advisor Team during a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. He and his team lived and worked with Afghan Uniformed Police at a police station in the city of Lashkar Gah and he was subsequently awarded his second Bronze Star Medal. He then demobilized and was assigned as the Logistics Officer for the 14th Marine Regiment before serving as the Regimental Executive Officer. During this time he completed the Marine Corps Command and Staff College Distance Education Program. 

Col. Cowart assumed command of First Battalion, Twenty-Third Marines in 2015. He led the unit through its Mountain Training Exercise at MWTC in 2016, was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal and completed the Security Cooperation Planners Course. In 2017 he completed the Military Advisor Course and deployed as the OIC of Security Cooperation Team – Jordan 17.2. His team partnered with Jordanian, UK, and Canadian forces through Exercise Eager Lion 17 and a regional Marine conference in Aqaba, Jordan with U.S. partners including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Lebanon, UAE. and Bahrain. He demobilized in 2018 and served with the Marine Forces Reserve Inspector General Directorate while earning his Master of Strategic Studies degree in 2020 from the US Army War College Distance Education Program. 

Col. Cowart then served as the OIC of Georgia Liaison Team, Rotation 12 and Security Cooperation Team Jordan 21.1. He played a pivotal role in fulfilling the MARCENT role in the Jordan Operational Engagement Program and initiating planning for future strategic level endeavors. Col. Cowart was awarded a second Meritorious Service Medal and seventh Sea Service Deployment Medal at the conclusion of this deployment. He assumed command of Marine Corps Advisor Company – Alpha in August of 2022. 

As a Wildlife Officer for the State of Arkansas, he serves as a tactics instructor, rifle instructor, pistol instructor, shotgun instructor, law-enforcement instructor, hunting instructor, small-boat instructor and as a Field Training Officer of newly commissioned officers.