Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) – Jennifer Ann Branigan Carns, a National Security Affairs Fellow (NSAF) for the academic year 2021–22, was promoted to the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force at a special ceremony held at the Hoover Institution.
In attendance at the ceremony were Col. Carns’s family and friends, and members of the Hoover community, including fellows and supporters of the institution.
Carns’s mother, husband, son, and two close friends pinned the new rank insignia on her uniform. Virtual attendees included several active and retired Air Force general officers, including the current Air Force chief of staff, General Charles Q. Brown Jr. Carns served as executive assistant to Gen. Brown before reporting to Hoover last summer.
Carns’s NSAF colleagues also participated in the ceremony. The presiding official was Captain Lushan Hannah (United States Coast Guard), and the master of ceremonies was Lt. Col. Michael Feuquay (United States Marine Corps). Among the Hoover supporters who attended was Robert Oster, for whom—along with his wife, Marion—the National Security Affairs Fellowship is named.
Col Carns’ next assignment will be as the J35 future operations chief at Joint Forces Headquarters–DoD Information Network in Fort Meade, Maryland. In this post, she and her team will work to secure, operate, and defend Department of Defense network operations.
Click here to read a Hoover Q&A with Col. Carns.
