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Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

John R. Gingrich

Chief of Staff

John R. Gingrich was appointed Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki on January 21, 2009.

As Chief of Staff, he works closely with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in managing day-to-day operations of the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department, with some 286,000 employees in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices and national cemeteries throughout the country.

Prior to joining VA, Mr. Gingrich leveraged his expertise in strategic planning, strategic communications and leadership development as president of Strategic LINX, Inc., a consulting company employed by government agencies, corporations and non-profit organizations.

Immediately prior to his corporate career, Mr. Gingrich served in the Senior Executive Service as director for U.S. Army Strategic Communications Initiatives in the Office of the Chief of Staff, Army in the Pentagon 2000 to 2003.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather who served in World War I, and his father, who served in World War II, Mr. Gingrich was commissioned a second lieutenant in Army artillery in 1971. He has served in a variety of command and staff positions including commander of a U.S. Army Field Artillery Battalion in Operation Desert Storm. He later was assigned to the Pentagon as Division Chief in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, U.S. Army; then Executive Officer to the Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Allied Land Forces Central Europe; and then Executive Officer to Vice Chief of Staff; U.S. Army and the Director, Chief of Staff, Army, Strategic Planning Group. Mr. Gingrich completed a 30 year career on his retirement from the U.S. Army as a Colonel in 2001.

Mr. Gingrich is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

Mr. Gingrich graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Texas A&M University in 1970 and completed his Masters degree in Management at Central Texas College in 1978.

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