CC to be president of Valley Forge Military College

LtCol John C. Church, Jr., USMCR

The Valley Forge Military College administration appointed life member LtCol John C. Church, Jr., USMCR, as President of Valley Forge Military College.  The appointment will take effect on July 1.

“Lieutenant Colonel Church’s military experiences, added to his already impressive academic background make him the ideal leader and role model for our College cadets,” said William R. Floyd, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Acting VFMA&C President. “We are proud that he has accepted the position at Valley Forge Military College.”

“It is a great honor and humbling privilege to be given the opportunity to lead the College.  My service as a professor and dean here has prepared me well.  Mary Kay and I are thrilled to be back at VF and are so grateful for the wonderful support she and I received while I was most recently deployed.  While serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan I came across college alumni serving gallantly in harm’s way and so proud to be from VFMC.  Right now there is a VFMC graduate making a difference in the nation and the world.  To add a page to that narrative will be wonderful.”

Lieutenant Colonel Church has just returned from a US Marine Corps active duty assignment where he was the Future Operations Plans Officer for Civil-Military Operations for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.  Prior to activating and mobilizing Lieutenant Colonel Church was the Director of the Service Academy Preparatory Program at Valley Forge Military Academy & College.  Previous to his Afghan assignment, he was the Detachment Commander of a Civil Affairs unit, leading Marines, soldiers, sailors and Iraqi civilians in Ar Ramadi, Al Anbar Province Iraq, during the historic “Al Anbar Awakening.”  Lieutenant Colonel Church enlisted from Detroit and served as an active duty deck seaman and hospital corpsman assigned to the Marines. He eventually earned a Secretary of the Navy appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. MD.

As a reservist, Lieutenant Colonel Church commanded Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion in Lynchburg, Virginia, from where he led a deployment to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  With 4th Civil Affairs Group, Lieutenant Colonel Church served in Kosovo, completed two tours of duty in Ramadi, Iraq, taught Civil Affairs to soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia, and successfully completed his most recent service in Afghanistan. 

Lieutenant Colonel Church earned a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U. S. Naval War College, a M. A. in Communication Journalism and Public Affairs from American University in Washington, D.C. and a B.S. in Political Science from the U.S. Naval Academy.  Lieutenant Colonel Church is a second-year doctoral student at Temple University in the Mass Media and Communication program. Last year his paper, The Best Seven Months of Our Lives: The War in Iraq and the Battle in Hollywood, won first place in the Pennsylvania Communication Association Writing Competition. Also, his personal reflections of duty throughout the world have been featured in USA Today, the Washington Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Lieutenant Colonel Church’s personal decorations include: the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two Gold Stars, the Army Commendation Medal and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.  Lieutenant Colonel Church and his wife, Mary Kay, a retired Marine Major, are the proud parents of John Carl Church, III (5) Travis Joseph Church (3) and twins Harper and Claire (1).  Lieutenant Colonel Church is the son of Colonel and Mrs. John C. Church, Sr., USMC (Retired) of Mount Clemens, Michigan.

Valley Forge Military College – The Military College of Pennsylvania is a private, co-educational, residential college that offers the freshman and sophomore years of college to over 300 young women and men. The primary mission of the VFMC is to prepare students for transfer to competitive four-year colleges and universities. Valley Forge Military College is the only college in the northeastern United States that offers qualified freshmen the opportunity to participate in an Early Commissioning Program, leading to a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves or Army National Guard at the end of their sophomore year. The U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy have all sponsored cadets through their Foundation Scholarship Programs and other programs to attend Valley Forge Military College.

Added in 1935, the mission of Valley Forge Military College is to provide a character-based education where our young cadets become fully prepared to meet their responsibilities, to be alert in mind, sound in body and considerate of others, and to demonstrate a high sense of duty, honor, loyalty and courage.

Valley Forge is the alma mater of such distinguished alumni as Rhodes Scholar, White House Fellow and author Westley W. O. Moore ’96/’98C; author J. D. Salinger ’36; U. S. Senator Warren B. Rudman ’48; GEN H. Norman Schwarzkopf ’52, Commander of Operation Desert Storm; former Governor of Puerto Rico, The Honorable Rafael Hernandez Colon ’54; and 2003 Heisman Trophy runner-up, 2004 third overall NFL draft pick Arizona Cardinals player, Larry Fitzgerald ’02.