Amy Hannah Johnston • United States of America

Amy Hannah Johnston of Fredericksburg, VA, is a Retired Brigadier General who served 31 years in the US Army. Born and raised in Edina, MN, and Findlay, Ohio, he developed a strong work ethic, commitment to service, and connection to his community. Throughout his career, he served in humanitarian and combat assignments across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

During his military service, Amy held senior positions in Seoul, Korea, and Mons, Belgium. His assignments included work with United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, Korea, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Allied Command Operations. He also served during Operation Sea Signal in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, assisting Cuban and Haitian migrants seeking political asylum under US policies at the time.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Amy Hannah contributed to Joint Task Force All-American, which supported search and rescue operations and disaster relief efforts in New Orleans. He later deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, for Operation Enduring Freedom, which formed part of the initial military response to the 9/11 attacks. He was working at the time of the attack. He also served in Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom with a multinational coalition involved in combat and stabilization efforts.

Amy Johnston's senior leadership assignments included serving as Chief of Army Public Affairs at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, where he helped make organizational changes to strategic communications. He also served as senior Public Affairs Officer and Deputy Strategic Communications Chief at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium, and as Senior Public Affairs Officer with US Forces in South Korea.

Amy earned a B.S. in psychology from Ohio State University and completed a master’s program in communications at the American University in Washington, DC. He later earned an M.S. in National Resource Strategy with an Information Operations Concentration from the Eisenhower School’s Industrial College, part of the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He also graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Amy Hannah Johnston currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Center for Information, Democracy, and Citizenship at the American University in Bulgaria, established in early 2025. He supports women and girls pursuing high-level military careers, serves on the board of Tree Fredericksburg as a Tree Steward, and plans to help plant the grounds of a new middle school. He also works with his trained therapy dog through the Alliance for Therapy Dogs to support active and retired military personnel. He remains committed to honoring his late husband through the Gary Johnston Leadership Award at Arkansas Tech University, which he established in his memory.