Jared attended Fair Grove Schools from First through Twelfth grades, graduating in 1992, as the senior class president, and received a citizenship award. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Eagle Award. This now annual award was started when Jared performed CPR on a heart attack victim at a home high school basketball game, keeping the man alive until an ambulance arrived. Jared learned CPR and lifesaving skills as a Boy Scout.  He was a certified Lifeguard in both the Boy Scouts of America and in the American Red Cross.  His Eagle Scout project was to paint Fair Grove’s water hydrants a bright color making them more easily recognizable. 

Jared played the trombone in the Fair Grove Band and was the recipient of the prestigious John Philip Sousa Award given to only one high school band member, every year, in each high school around the country. The award recognizes superior musicianship and outstanding dedication. He was three-time 1st Chair in the Mid-Lakes Conference Band. 

Jared was a member of the FG High School Speech and Drama Club.  He was the lead in the Speech and Drama’s annual play in the spring of 1992 of “The Imaginary Invalid”.  In his senior year he also won numerous Speech and Drama competitive honors to include top honors in the MLC Speech and Drama competition: Gold Medal in Humorous Interpretation, Gold Medal in Poetry Reading, and Gold Medal in Duet Acting.  

Tenshi GoJu Kai is the Karate system in which Jared holds a fourth-degree black belt. 

He was a member of the 1991 Football Eagles Mid-Lakes Conference Champions, District 3 Champions, and a State Playoff Sectional Finalist, with an undefeated regular season (10-0). This was the first MLC and District Football Championship in Fair Grove High School history. He was a two-time All-Conference Defensive Nose Guard (NG): MLC Honorable Mention NG in 1990 and MLC 1st Team NG in 1991.  He was also the recipient of the Eagle Football “Hustle” Award for his senior season, in recognition of his superior work ethic on the gridiron.

Southwest Baptist University recruited Jared to play football for their Bearcat Football Team. He was a four-year Varsity Letter Recipient at the NCAA Division-II level. At SBU Jared earned dual majors in Psychology and Sociology, graduating in December of 1996. 

United States Marine Corps Information: 

• Joined the USMC on 27 September 1997 and reported to Officers Candidate School (Entry Level Officer Training) on 25 January 1998. Commissioned a 2ndLt on 3 April 1998. 

• Graduated Armor Officer Basic Course and was designated an 1802 Tank Officer in March 1999 

• Reported to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Rein) in May, 1999 

• Deployed to Australia for Exercise Crocodile 99 in August-Oct, 1999, and supported a Maritime Preposition Off-Load. Operated in Shoal Water Bay training conducting bilateral live fire and maneuver training with the Australian Defense Force. 

• Assigned as the Tank Platoon Commander attached to Battalion Landing Team 3/1 with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Deployed on WestPac-00 from July 2000 to February 2001. During this deployment he led Marines in the following Operations: 

• Dismounted Security Operations in support of Humanitarian Operations in Dili, East Timor. 

• Small Boat operations reinforcing perimeter security around the USS Cole in support of “Operation Determined Response”, recovery of the USS Cole following it being bombed in the Port of Aden, Yemen. 

• Led his Tank Platoon in bi-lateral security cooperation ops in the United Arab Emirates. 

• Led his Marines in security operations during Maritime Security Operations in the Persian Gulf. 

• Served as the USMC Liaison to the Armor Officer Basic Course, Tactics Instructor, and Commander of I Troop in 2nd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment from June 2002-May 2004.  During his assignment in this capacity, he was directly responsible for the education and training of over 350 Junior Armor and Cavalry Leaders across the US Army, USMC and International Allies.  

• Commanded Company C, 1st Tank Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07 attached to Regimental Combat Team 7 in Anbar Province, Iraq. Led Tank Company providing Armor Support to USMC, US Army, and Iraqi Security Forces in Combat Operations from April-October 2006. 

• Served as the Executive Officer and as an Operations Advisor in an Afghan Police Training Team in support of security operations under NATO Training Mission Afghanistan (NTMA) in Kabul, Afghanistan embedded with the 1st Afghan National Civil Operations Police (ANCOP) Brigade during OEF 11.2 and OEF 12.1 from November 2011-April 2012. 

• Served as the Current Operations Officer (COPSO) in the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade under III Marine Expeditionary Force from July, 2013-July, 2016, in Okinawa, Japan. During this assignment deployed in the following multilateral operations and security cooperation exercises: 

• Managed current operations during 2 X Large Scale Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations:

•  “Operation Damayan” in the Republic of the Philippines in November 2013, managing current operations of the Joint Force Land Component Command (JFLCC) under Joint Task Force 505 in Villamore Philippine Air Force Base in the capital city of Manilla. This was a multinational humanitarian response following the Super Typhoon Yolonda (Class 5 Typhoon) that killed over 10,000 Philippine civilians and devastated the populace of the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Luzon, and Cebu. 

• “Operation Sahayogi Haat” in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in May 2015 managing current operations in the Joint Task Force 505 Forward Command Element in the capital of Katmandu. This was a multinational humanitarian response following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country. During this operation he directed the search and recovery efforts of a UH-1Y Helicopter (call sign Vengeance 01) that crashed in the Himalayas. The JTF recovered the aircraft and the remains of the 4 X USMC crew members, 2 X USMC Combat Camera Marines, 2 X Nepal Soldiers, and 15 Nepal Civilians that perished in the crash. USMC fallen were recovered, identified, and transported with honors to be repatriated and laid to rest in the US. 

• Managed current operations in 15 Large Scale multinational security cooperation exercises in the following countries: 

• Philippines 

• South Korea 

• Japan 

• Malaysia 

• Australia 

• Nepal 

• Thailand 

• Palau 

• French Polynesia 

• And the US Territory of Guam 

• Served in the Defense of the South Korean Peninsula from July 2016-July 2019. Served with Special Operations Command Korea as the command’s Future Operations Chief and Crisis Management Operational Planning Team Lead from August 2016-September 2017, and as the Deputy Director of Operations from September 2017-June 2019. Served as the Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Planning Team Lead for the duration of this assignment. 

• Assigned as the Director of the USMC Command and Staff College Blended Seminar Program under the Distance Education Branch within Marine Corps University at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia for the final 2 X years of his active-duty military career. 

This nominee achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel USMC in 2015. In addition to his Bachelor of Science Degrees in Psychology and Sociology, he earned a Master Degree of Military Studies from the Marine Corps University and possesses the secondary MOS of 0577, Operations and Tactics Instructor. His personal awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal X 3, Joint Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal X 2, Army Commendation Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Joint Meritorious Unit Award X 2, Navy Unit Commendation X 2, Meritorious Unit Citation X 3, Marine Expeditionary Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal X 3, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon X 6, Overseas Service Ribbon X 2, and NATO Service Medal (ISAF). He and his wife, Amanda, have one son, Jared Jr. In February of 2022, LtCol Jared R. Duff will retire from the US Marine Corps with over 24 years of service