Biography
COL John O’Shea is a veteran of 31 years of military service on reserve and active duty. He enlisted as a private and earned his commission through the Infantry Officer Candidate School. He was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame in 1999. His assignments included company-level commands and staff positions at battalion, brigade, division and Department of the Army levels. While a Lieutenant Colonel, O’Shea was assigned as liaison for the Secretary of the Army to the U.S. Congress where he represented sensitive and mission-critical programs. After promotion to colonel, he served on faculty of the U.S. Army War College and directed the Army’s outreach to business and academia, joining academic and corporate executives with the senior Army leadership to exchange best practices. He is a graduate of National Defense University, the Army War College and the Command and General Staff College. Colonel O’Shea’s military decorations include two awards of the Legion of Merit, three awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, a Presidential Unit Citation and campaign ribbons for service in the Republic of Korea.John is the President of the DC Chapter of TUSAOCSAA and a TUSAOCSAA Director. He personally coordinated for the last 5 years the procurement of decorations that were laid at the Vietnam, Korea, WW I and WWII monuments as well as the tomb of the unknown Soldier on behalf of TUSAOCSAA. He has represented TUSAOCSAA at AUSA National for five Years. This volunteer service greatly enhanced TUSAOCSAA as a National Veteran’s Organization. He also provided financial support for the OCS Heritage Center and the OCS Memorial Walk and has been a consistent annual donor to TUSAOCSAA. His efforts and donations will significantly preserve the history of OCS and further TUSAOCSAA goals and objectives. He facilitated our initial sponsorship with AAFMAA which has been TUSAOCSAA largest revenue stream.
Colonel O’Shea was recognized for leadership, project management and financial support to the OCS Alumni Association, fellow alumni, the OCS Battalion and OCS candidates with the 2024 Nett Award.