Lt. Col. Jason R. Hanson received a Regular Army commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Armor Corps through the ROTC program at Texas State University of San Marcos in December 2001. After five years of continued service, Lt. Col. Hanson left active duty in 2007 to pursue an advanced degree (MBA) and one year later was accessed back on active duty into Special Operations Civil Affairs in 2008.
He is a graduate of Texas State University, San Marcos with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and has his Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Tarleton State University in 2008.
Lt. Col. Hanson is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic Course, the Basic Airborne Course, Armor Maneuver Captains Career Course, SERE-C High Risk Course, the Civil Affairs Qualification Course, the Special Operations Language Course, the Joint Special Operations Civil Military Operations Campaign Planners Course, the Command and General Staff College (Ft. Leavenworth, K.S.), the Special Operations Jump Master Course and the Advanced Joint Combined Warfighter School (JPME II).
His past assignments include: SOJ38 CA Division Chief, Special Operations Command, Pacific, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii; Tank Platoon Leader 2-72 Armor Regiment, Camp Casey-ROK; Deputy Battalion S-3/Joint Operations Center OIC, 1-66 Armor Regiment, 4th ID, Samarra, Iraq; Tank Company Executive Officer, Battalion Adjutant, and Detachment Commander, 1-66 Armor Regiment, 4th ID, Fort Hood, T.X.; Deputy Operations Officer, Team Leader, and CMOC Chief for A/97th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Battalion Operations Officer (S3) and Battalion Executive Officer (XO), 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, USAJFKSWCS (Airborne). Lt. Col. Hanson’s deployments include: Combat Operations as a Platoon Leader in Operation Iraqi Freedom I, multiple deployments in support of Joint Special Operations Task Force – OEF Philippines as Civil Affairs Team Leader and CMOC Chief; Unconventional Warfare Planner and Joint Operations Officer (J3) in support of SOCCENT-FWD-Yemen and (J35) Future Operations Planner – Joint Task Force INDOPACOM (Singapore).
Lt. Col. Hanson’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (2OLC), Joint Service Commendation Medal (1OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (1OLC), Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal (1CS), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Master Parachutist Badge.