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Tuesday January 06, 2009 Events Calendar Archive |
Colonel Ward Johnson to Present at Constitution DayThe Legal Frontline: the Front at GTMO- Colonel Ward Johnson
Col. Johnson’s military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the North Dakota Meritorious Service medal among others. Col. Johnson has been mobilized and deployed overseas twice for federal active duty during his 29 years of military service. From 2004 to 2007, Col. Johnson served on active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. After graduating from the Army War College, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy to be the Senior Army Member, Intelligence Officer and Presiding Officer of the Military Tribunals and Administrative Review Boards in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO). He was then appointed by the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Gordon England, to serve as the Branch Chief for the Office for the Administrative Review for the Detention of Enemy Combatants (OARDEC) at the Pentagon. While at OARDEC, Col. Johnson’s cases included many of the 9/11 planners as well as other international terrorists involved with the Cole bombing and the Bali nightclub bombing. These terrorists are now detained at GTMO.
In his civilian life, Johnson is a partner at the Pearson, Christensen and Clapp Law Firm, where he handles military justice cases, defense contracting, criminal law, and civil litigation. Additional Constitution Day Events On Campus 11 a.m. Loading Dock at the Student Union. 2 p.m. Orth Lecture Bowl at the Student Union. The public is welcome at all events.
Description of Constitution Day Most Americans know that July 4th is our nation’s birthday. Surveys show that far fewer know that September 17th is the birthday of our system of government, the date in 1787 on which 39 of the 55 original delegates to the Philadelphia Convention completed and signed the U.S. Constitution. This year therefore marks the 221st anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. The Constitution embodies principles which inform our system of government and our relationship to it, including a commitment to the rule of law, the separation of powers and checks and balances among the three branches of government, federalism that marks the distinctive and cooperative authority of the federal government and the states, and the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice that undergird individual civil rights and liberties. In 2004, federal law designated every September 17th as Constitution Day. Any educational institution that receives federal funds is mandated to celebrate Constitution Day by offering an educational program on or around the holiday. Constitution Day encourages Americans to remember the significance of the Constitution in establishing our system of government, securing our individual civil rights and liberties, and providing the means to keep government accountable to the people in times of war and peace. |
Colonel Ward Johnson Bio
Col. Johnson recently was assigned as the Senior Military Representative to NATO for the Kosovo peacekeeping mission, beginning in Fall 2009. He also will return to federal active duty in GTMO to work in the Military Tribunals and Administrative Review Boards. In June 2008, the U.S. Senate confirmed Col. Johnson for promotion to Brigadier General. 
