Official Biography for John W. Boerstler - Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
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Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

 

Official Biography for John W. Boerstler

Chief Veterans Experience Officer Veterans Experience Office

John W. Boerstler

John W. Boerstler was sworn-in on February 16, 2021, as the Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a collaborative backbone organization whose purpose was to unite collaborative methodology and technology in order to more effectively connect Veterans to thousands of government and non-profit services. As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John will provide executive oversight of the many innovative projects and programs housed within the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) and work collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access and outcomes for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.

John has a distinguished career as a leader in the Veteran services field as a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having travelled to the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Israel, Bosnia, Hungary and Ukraine to write comparative papers on their military transition systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John recently completed a 3-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs – the first of its kind in Europe. John was also honored to be selected in the inaugural cohort of Stand-To Scholars at the George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Leadership Program in 2018.

 John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2007 as a non-commissioned officer and infantry unit leader, including one combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005 and Operation Natural Fire in the Republic of Kenya in 2006. John has also served as the Executive Director of NextOp, a program manager with Wounded Warrior Project, the Mayor of Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs, and as a policy and district staffer for a U.S. Representative. In 2009, John helped found the Lone Star Veterans Association which became the largest network of Post-9/11 Veterans in Texas and successfully merged with Combined Arms in March 2019.

 

CAREER CHRONOLOGY:

2021 – Present            Chief Veterans Experience Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC

2019 – 2021                Chief Executive Officer, Combined Arms, Houston, TX

2015 – 2019                Executive Director, NextOp, Houston, TX

2013 – 2015                Business Development Manager, Infinite Energy, FL and TX

2011 – 2013                Regional Program Manager, Wounded Warrior Project, FL and TX

2009 – 2011                Deputy Director, City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs

2007 – 2009                Regional Field Representative, U.S. House of Representatives

 

EDUCATION:

John holds a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Houston.

 

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