John Stanton, SES
John Stanton, SES
Executive Director
 
Biographical Sketch
Upon his selection into the Senior Executive Service, Mr. John R. Stanton assumed the responsibilities of Executive Director, National Air Security Operations for the Office of Air and Marine, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He is responsible for all strategic missions and operational activities undertaken with the fleet of 16 P-3 Orion aircraft, 7 Unmanned Aircraft Systems–Predator Bs, and airborne signal interception.

In 1985, Mr. Stanton flew for Precision Airlines in Manchester, New Hampshire as a scheduled commuter airline copilot. Within a year, he upgraded to Captain. In 1986, Mr. Stanton was hired by Eastern Airlines as a Boeing 727 Flight Engineer. He progressed to the Airbus A-300 and then the Lockheed L-1011. He also served in the Training Department as an instructor, Crew Resource Management facilitator, and FAA Check Airman on the B-727.

In 1991, Mr. Stanton was hired by the U.S. Customs Service as a Pilot at the Caribbean Air Branch, based in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He subsequently served at the El Paso Air Unit, and the Tucson Air Branch. During his career in Federal law enforcement, he has flown the Cessna 404, Nomad N22S, Piper Cheyenne PA-42RC, Cessna 550 Citation II, Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, and American Eurocopter AS-350B2. During his flying career, Mr. Stanton has amassed in excess of 10,000 hours.

Mr. Stanton served at the Air and Marine Operations headquarters in Washington, D.C. starting in 2001 and was responsible for the airspace security plan for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Mr. Stanton was later detailed from headquarters to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Congressional Fellow, serving on the Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources.

Mr. Stanton served in the Armed Forces, first as an enlisted U.S. Marine (Reserve) from 1979 to 1985 and also as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army (Reserve) from 1989 to 2008. Mr. Stanton served in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM at headquarters, Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan in Kabul; at forward headquarters, U.S. Central Command; and at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

Upon his return from Afghanistan, Mr. Stanton served as the Vice Director of the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) for three years. The task force is an international, interagency, and joint collaborative environment focused on counterterrorism, counternarcotics, weapons trafficking, and money laundering within a 42 million square mile Joint Operations Area.