Retired four-star Admiral John Richardson is a Senior Advisor at The Asia Group. Nominated by former President Barack Obama, Adm. (Ret.) Richardson served the U.S. Navy as the 31st Chief of Naval Operations from 2015 until August 2019. As CNO, he was responsible for the current and future readiness and operational effectiveness of the U.S. Navy, including 600,000 Sailors and civilians, a $160B budget, over 70 installations, 290 warships, and over 2,000 aircraft deployed worldwide. Adm. (Ret.) Richardson retired from the Navy in August 2019.
Adm. (Ret.) Richardson served as the Director of Naval Reactors from 2012 until 2015. In this capacity, he was responsible for the design, safety, certification, operating standards, material control, maintenance, disposal, and regulatory oversight of over 100 nuclear power plants operating on nuclear-powered warships deployed around the world.
While in the Navy, Adm. (Ret.) Richardson served in the submarine force. He commanded the attack submarine USS HONOLULU in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for which he was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award. He went on to command at every level of the Navy.
During his 37-year tenure in the Navy, Adm. (Ret.) Richardson also served as naval aide to the President of the United States, the teacher for prospective submarine commanding officers, and a Director of Strategy and Policy.
Adm. (Ret.) Richardson graduated from the U.S. Navy Academy in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. He also holds master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College.
Adm. (Ret.) Richardson currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Boeing Company, Constellation Energy, BWX Technologies, and the Center for New American Security (CNAS). He is also a Senior Fellow at the John Hopkins Applies Physics Laboratory and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.