Stephen Elliot Johnson (born 1955) is a retired

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Biography

A native of

Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. The city also forms one of the core areas of the United States Census Bureau's Marshfield-Wisconsin Rapids Micropolit ...

, Johnson graduated from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in 1977 with degrees in

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

and

information management Information management (IM) concerns a cycle of organizational activity: the acquisition of information from one or more sources, the custodianship and the distribution of that information to those who need it, and its ultimate disposal throug ...

Career

Johnson served as commander of the submarine from 1992 to 1995. From 1998 to 2003, he served as program manager in the production of the s. Later, he served as Director of Undersea Technology of the

Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the United States Navy's five "systems commands," or materiel (not to be confused with "material") organizations. From a physical perspective, NAVSEA has four shipyards for shipbuilding, c ...

and took command of the

Naval Undersea Warfare Center The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...

. In 2006, he was named Director of Strategic Systems Programs. Awards he has received include the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

with

award star A inch star (9.7mm) is a miniature gold or silver five-pointed star that is authorized by the United States Armed Forces as a ribbon device to denote subsequent awards for specific decorations of the Department of the Navy, Coast Guard, Public Hea ...

, the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

with two award stars, and the

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

with two awards stars. Johnson retired from the Navy in 2015, and was immediately recruited by the Australian Defence Department as its general manager for submarines. He was promoted to the position of deputy secretary of defence within the Department of Defence in 2016, an unusual position for a non-Australian. He resigned from the position in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Stephen E. 1955 births Living people People from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Wisconsin School of Business alumni Military personnel from Wisconsin United States submarine commanders Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Legion of Merit