JC Clapsaddle is a retired United States Air Force Colonel, peacebuilding practitioner, humanitarian project leader, and a nonprofit executive.
During his military career, he served in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. His assignments included service in Iraq as a liaison between U.S. military medical forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Health; work in Washington D.C. as a National Defense Fellow and policy advisor; and as a Pentagon Legislative Liaison to the U.S. Congress with a portfolio of veterans’ affairs, and veteran suicide prevention, human rights, diversity, prevention of sexual assault, and religious freedom.
In 2010, the Secretary of Defense appointed Clapsaddle Deputy Director of the Pentagon’s legal and legislative team responsible for implementing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” helping craft the historical legislation that allowed gay and lesbian service members to serve openly in the U.S. military.
He later commanded military hospitals at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, leading organizations that cared for wounded service members evacuated from combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa.
Following retirement from military service, Clapsaddle focused on international peacebuilding, humanitarian relief, and civil society leadership.
As a leader of the San Antonio Council for International Visitors, a partner of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), he advanced citizen diplomacy by coordinating professional exchanges between international leaders and their American counterparts.
Since the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Clapsaddle has coordinated and delivered ambulances, emergency response vehicles, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine. As a convoy mission coordinator and driver, he has personally delivered aid into areas near active conflict zones where needs are most urgent.
Clapsaddle is an Ambassador for the Institute for Economics and Peace, a graduate of the Masters Leadership Program San Antonio, and a Rotarian. He helped establish the Nurturing Hope Summer Learning Journey in Northern Ireland and is a co-founder and Governing Board member of the Seeds of Hope International Peace Leadership Academy. The Academy equips emerging leaders from divided communities with skills in dialogue, reconciliation, peacegrowing, and conflict transformation.
Not all of Clapsaddle’s efforts are international; one of his greatest joys is volunteering with Guide Dogs of Texas, where he has helped raise and train puppies to become future guide dogs to help people who are blind or visually impaired.
His work has earned numerous honors, including Rotary International’s Service Above Self Award, designation as a San Antonio Peace Laureate, the Saint Philip’s International Philosophy Education Award, and the Council for International Visitors International Peace Leadership Award.