Harold "Hank" P. Naughton Jr. is an American politician. He is a state legislator who served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1995 to 2021. He was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

on July 4, 1960 and grew up in

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...

, where he still resides with his wife, Ellen, and four children. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Naughton is a lieutenant colonel in the

Army Reserves A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

. He has served as an Army JAG in both

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

where he saw combat. He has been awarded the

Combat Action Badge The Combat Action Badge (CAB) is a United States military award given to soldiers of the U.S. Army of any rank and who are not members of an infantry or special forces MOS, for being "present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy, a ...

, among other military awards. On October 24, 2013, Naughton announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Massachusetts. He dropped out of the race in March 2014 and ran for reelection to the House instead. He did not run for reelection to a fourteenth term in 2020.

Education and legal career

Naughton attended public schools in

and went on to earn his Bachelor's at Assumption College in 1982. He earned his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University School of Law in Boston and also studied at

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...

in London, England. Naughton began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Worcester County where he served from 1992 to 1995. Since 1995, he has practiced law at Naughton Law Firm in Clinton. His firm concentrates on litigation, criminal defense, local, national and international development issues, and government relations. In the early 2000s, Rep. Naughton accompanied former

President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

to Northern Ireland in conjunction with the founding of the Enniskillen Peace Center. Naughton was also an observer at the Saville Investigation Hearings into the "

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...

" shootings of unarmed civilian civil rights protesters by British troops. Hank Naughton joined the plaintiff litigation firm Napoli Shkolnik PLLC full time in August 2020. He focuses on PFAS and Environmental Litigation and Veterans Advocacy.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Naughton was first elected to the

in 1995 and has since served in the legislature for 24 years. From 2008-2012, he served as the House Chairman of the Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. Naughton was also Chairman of the Judiciary Sub-Committee on Drug Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Substance Abuse in the Courts. Since 2010, Rep. Naughton has served as House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. As Chairman, he is currently focusing the Committee's legislative priorities on removing illegal guns from the streets of the Commonwealth. His legislative priorities include local affairs, education, the environment, veteran's affairs, and constituent outreach. He is an advisory member of the Governor's Commission on Veterans and Military Family Support and a former member of the Democratic National Committee Coordinating Council on Veterans and Military Families. In April 2020, he announced that he will not seek a fourteenth term that year.

Military service

Following the events of September 11, 2001, Naughton joined the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

. He currently serves as a lieutenant colonel with the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...

. Naughton volunteered for a tour of active duty and served with

Multi-National Force Iraq Multinational may refer to: * Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries * Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries * Multinational state, a sovereign state that comprises two or more na ...

from September, 2005 until May, 2006. At the end of May, 2012, he returned from an 8-month voluntary deployment to

Kandahar, Afghanistan Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...

with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. As an Army JAG, Naughton worked with local Afghan judicial authorities, military, and security forces, in conjunction with officials from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, State Department,

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

, and other entities, to establish a sustainable judicial and law enforcement system in the City of Kandahar and the greater

Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzga ...

in southern Afghanistan. Major Naughton currently serves with the Third Legal Operational Detachment and acts as an adjunct to the

Defense Security Cooperation Agency The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), as part of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense matériel, training and services to allies, and promotes military-to-milit ...

and the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies. He has traveled to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, where he has advised the Congolese Army on ethics and anti-corruption. He has been awarded the

, Bronze Star Medal,

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 Me ...

, Afghan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star,

Iraq Campaign Medal The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005 ...

with Campaign Star,

Army 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 ...

(2nd Award),

Army Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to recei ...

Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal A Reserve Good Conduct Medal refers to any one of the five military conduct awards, four of which are currently issued and one of which was previously issued, by the United States Armed Forces to members of the Reserve and National Guard. The pri ...

(2nd Award),

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) is a United States Armed Forces award created by George W. Bush on 12 March 2003, through Executive Order 13289. The medal recognizes those military service members who have deployed ove ...

NATO Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. ...

Army Service Ribbon The Army Service Ribbon (ASR) is a military award of the United States Army that was established by the Secretary of the Army on 10 April 1981 as announced in Department of the Army General Order 15, dated 10 October 1990. History Effective 1 A ...

Overseas Service Ribbon An Overseas Service Ribbon is a service military award of the United States military which recognizes those service members who have performed military tours outside the borders of the United States of America. There are different versions of the ...

, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M/Device, and

Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal The Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal (MOVSM) is a military award which was created under Executive Order 12830 by George H. W. Bush on January 9, 1993. The medal was designed by the Institute of Heraldry and was first issued in Dec ...

. In May, 2011, former

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

appointed Representative Naughton to th
International Security Advisory Board
United States Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

has since reappointed him to the board.

Other

Naughton has been a commentator on the Nationa
‘Fox and Friends’ Morning
television show in regards to the Afghanistan War. He has also made appearances o
WGBHFox 25WBZ-TV Channel 4WBZ Radio 1030WTKK Radio 96.9WBUR 90.9 National Public Radio
an
NBC’s Today Show

References

External links