James L . Jones James Logan Jones , Jr . ( born December 19 , 1943 ) is a retired United States Marine Corps general and the former United States National Security Advisor . During his military career , he served as Commander , United States European Command ( COMUSEUCOM ) and Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( SACEUR ) from 2003 to 2006 and as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003 . Jones retired from the Marine Corps on February 1 , 2007 , after 40 years of service . After retiring from the Marine Corps , Jones remained involved in national security and foreign policy issues . In 2007 , Jones served as chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq , which investigated the capabilities of the Iraqi police and armed forces . In November 2007 , he was appointed by the U . S . Secretary of State as special envoy for Middle East security . He served as chairman of the Atlantic Council from June 2007 to January 2009 , when he assumed the post of National Security Advisor which he held until November 2010 . Early life and education . Jones was born in Kansas City , Missouri on December 19 , 1943 . He is the son of Charlotte Ann ( née Ground ) and James L . Jones , Sr . , a decorated Marine in World War II who was an officer in the Observer Group and the commanding officer of its successor , the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion . Having spent his formative years in France , where he attended the American School of Paris , he returned to the United States graduating from Groveton High School in Fairfax County , Virginia then attended Georgetown University Edmund A . Walsh School of Foreign Service , from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1966 . Jones , who is six feet four inches ( 1 . 93 m ) tall , played forward on the Georgetown Hoyas men ' s basketball team . Military career . In January 1967 , Jones was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U . S . Marine Corps . Upon completion of The Basic School at Marine Corps Base Quantico , Virginia , in October 1967 , he was ordered to South Vietnam , where he served as a platoon and company commander with Golf Company , 2nd Battalion , 3rd Marines . While overseas , he was promoted to first lieutenant in June 1968 . Returning to the United States in December 1968 , Jones was assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton , California , where he served as a company commander until May 1970 . He then received orders to Marine Barracks , Washington , D . C . , for duties as a company commander , serving in this assignment until July 1973 . While at this post ( December 1970 ) he was promoted to captain . From July 1973 until June 1974 , he was a student at the Amphibious Warfare School , Marine Corps University , MCB Quantico , Virginia . In November 1974 , he received orders to report to the 3rd Marine Division at MCB Camp Butler , Okinawa , Japan , where he served as the commander of Company H , 2nd Battalion , 9th Marines , until December 1975 . From January 1976 to August 1979 , Jones served in the Officer Assignments Section at Headquarters Marine Corps , Washington , D . C . During this assignment , he was promoted to major in July 1977 . Remaining in Washington , his next assignment was as the Marine Corps liaison officer to the United States Senate , where he served until July 1984 . In this assignment , his first commander was John McCain , then a U . S . Navy captain . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1982 . Senior staff and command . He was selected to attend the National War College in Washington , D . C . Following graduation in June 1985 , he was assigned to command the 3rd Battalion , 9th Marines , 1st Marine Division , at Camp Pendleton , California , from July 1985 to July 1987 . In August 1987 , Jones returned to Headquarters Marine Corps , where he served as senior aide to the Commandant of the Marine Corps . He was promoted to colonel in April 1988 , and became the Military Secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps in February 1989 . During August 1990 , Jones was assigned as the commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit ( 24th MEU ) at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . During his tour with the 24th MEU , he participated in Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq and Turkey . He was advanced to brigadier general on April 23 , 1992 . Jones was assigned to duties as deputy director , J - 3 , U . S European Command , Stuttgart , Germany , on July 15 , 1992 . During this tour of duty , he was reassigned as chief of staff , Joint Task Force Provide Promise , for operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia . Returning to the United States , he was advanced to the rank of major general in July 1994 and was assigned as commanding general , 2nd Marine Division , Marine Forces Atlantic , MCB Camp Lejeune . Jones next served as director , Expeditionary Warfare Division ( N85 ) , Office of the Chief of Naval Operations , during 1996 , then as the deputy chief of staff for plans , policies , and operations , Headquarters Marine Corps , Washington , D . C . He was advanced to lieutenant general on July 18 , 1996 . His next assignment was as the military assistant to the Secretary of Defense . Commandant . On April 21 , 1999 , he was nominated for appointment to the grade of general and assignment as the 32nd commandant of the Marine Corps . He was promoted to general on June 30 , 1999 , and assumed the post on July 1 , 1999 . He served as commandant until January 2003 , turning over the reins to General Michael Hagee . Among other innovations during his career as Marine Corps commandant , Jones oversaw the Marine Corps ' development of MARPAT camouflage uniforms , and the adoption of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program ( MCMAP ) . These replaced M81 Woodland uniforms and the LINE combat system , respectively . SACEUR / EUCOM . Jones assumed duties as the commander of U . S . European Command on January 16 , 2003 , and supreme allied commander Europe the following day . He was the first Marine Corps general to serve as SACEUR / EUCOM commander . The Marine Corps had only recently begun to take on a larger share of high - level assignments in the Department of Defense . As of December 2006 , Jones was one of five serving Marine Corps four - star general officers who outranked the current commandant of the Marine Corps ( General James T . Conway ) in terms of seniority and time in grade — the others being Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace ; former commandant Michael Hagee , commander of U . S . Strategic Command James E . Cartwright , and Assistant Commandant Robert Magnus . As SACEUR , Jones led the Allied Command Operations ( ACO ) , comprising NATO ’ s military forces in Europe , from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe , Mons , Belgium , Jones relinquished command as SACEUR on December 7 , 2006 , and was succeeded by U . S . Army Gen . John Craddock . Jones was reported to have declined an opportunity to succeed Gen . John P . Abizaid as commander of U . S . Central Command , and stepped down as SACEUR on December 4 , 2006 . He retired from the Marine Corps on February 1 , 2007 . Awards and decorations . Jones ' personal decorations include ( Foreign and non - U . S . personal and unit decorations are in order of precedence based on military guidelines and award date ) : Post - military career . Business roles . Following his retirement from the military , Jones became president of the Institute for 21st Century Energy , an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce ; he also served as chair of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council of the United States from June 2007 until January 2009 , when he assumed the post of National Security Advisor . Jones also served as a member of the guiding coalition for the Project on National Security Reform , as well as chairman of the Independent Commission on the Iraqi Security Forces . He was a member of the Board of directors of The Boeing Company from June 21 , 2007 to December 15 , 2008 , serving on the company ' s Audit and Finance Committees . Jones was also a member of the Board of directors of Cross Match Technologies , a privately held biometric solutions company , from October 2007 to January 2009 . Jones was employed on the Board of Trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS ) , a bipartisan think - tank , from 2007 to 2008 , and then began serving again in 2011 . He was a member of the Board of directors of Chevron Corporation from May 28 , 2008 to December 5 , 2008 , serving on the Board Nominating and Governance and Public Policy Committees . According to the first report since Jones re - entered government service in January 2009 , Jones earned a salary and bonus of $ 900 , 000 from the US Chamber , as well as director fees of $ 330 , 000 from the Boeing Company and $ 290 , 000 from the Chevron Corporation . After leaving the Obama administration , Jones returned as a Fellow at the US Chamber in 2011 . The board of directors of General Dynamics has elected Jones to be a director of the corporation , effective August 3 , 2011 . Also , on January 13 , 2012 , Jones joined Deloitte Consulting LLP as a senior adviser who will work with Federal and commercial consulting clients within Deloitte ' s Department of Defense and Intel segments . Diplomatic roles . Then - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Jones twice to be Deputy Secretary of State after Robert Zoellick resigned . He declined . On May 25 , 2007 , Congress created an Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq to investigate for 120 days the capabilities of the Iraq armed forces and police . Jones served as chairman of that commission and reported on Congress on September 6 , 2007 noting serious deficiencies in the Iraq Interior Ministry and in the Iraq National Police . Rice appointed Jones as a special envoy for Middle East security on November 28 , 2007 , to work with both Israelis and Palestinians on security issues . Jones serves as a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center ( BPC ) , where he works on a variety of national security and energy - related issues . Jones is also a co - chair of BPC ' s Energy Project . National Security Advisor . On December 1 , 2008 then - President - elect Obama announced Jones as his selection for National Security Advisor . The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President without confirmation by the United States Senate . The pick surprised people because , as Michael Crowley reported " The two men didn ' t meet until Obama ' s foreign policy aide , Mark Lippert , arranged a 2005 sit - down , and , as of this October , Jones had only spoken to Obama twice " . Crowley speculated that Jones ' record suggests he is " someone who , unencumbered by strong ideological leanings , can evaluate ideas dispassionately whether they come from left or right " , and , " This is probably why Obama picked him " . Jones was also picked because he is well respected and likely to possess the skills to navigate the other prestigious and powerful cabinet members . " He does not appear to be a natural antagonist of anyone else on the team . " Though he doesn ' t know Gates especially well , both men share long experience in the national security establishment ( Gates was in the Air Force and previously headed the CIA ) . Jones and Clinton have a more direct connection , having bonded — as Hillary did with many military officials — during her tenure on the Senate Armed Services Committee . The two are said to have particularly clicked at a 2005 conference on security policy in Munich . Jones hosted a small private dinner that included Clinton and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham , among others ; at the end of the convivial evening , according to one person present , Jones followed Clinton out to her car to visit in private . " Jones assumed the post when Obama was sworn into office on January 20 , 2009 . He announced his resignation as National Security Advisor on October 8 , 2010 , and was succeeded by Thomas E . Donilon . Advocate for Iranian dissidents . In March 2013 Jones was quoted comparing the conditions for Iranians in a US camp in Iraq with the conditions of detention for captives held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp s . While addressing the Iranian American Cultural Society of Michigan Jones said Guantanamo captives " " are treated far better " " than the Iranian internees . Jones criticized other aspects of the Obama administration ' s policy on Iran . " Foreign Policy magazine " noted that Jones had not volunteered whether he had been paid for this speaking engagement . Personal life and style . Former U . S . Secretary of Defense William Cohen , who hired Jones as his military assistant , is quoted as saying Jones has a placid demeanor and a " methodical approach to problems — he ’ s able to view issues at both the strategic and tactical level " . While Commandant of the Marine Corps , Jones often signed emails as " Rifleman " , as he served as an infantry officer . Jones was also responsible for convincing country music artist Toby Keith that he should record and publish his popular concert hit Courtesy of the Red , White , & Blue ( The Angry American ) .