Rear Admiral John Kirby Biography

Rear Admiral John Kirby is an American politician and a retired Admiral in the US navy. He is famously known as the Press secretary for the US state department of Defense and is currently serving as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

Early Life

John was born in the year 1963 but the exact date of his birth is unknown. Born in a Chritsian family, he spent earlier days of his childhood in in Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA. He has not shared much about his family and parents and is also not known to have any siblings. John completed his high school graduation from St. Petersburg catholic high school in 1981 and went on to attend the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He graduated in the year 1985 with a Bachelor’s degree in History. John further went on to pursue his master’s in International relations from Troy University and also pursued Masters’s in National security from Naval War College. He also attended Officer Candidate School and completed it in 1986.

Rear Admiral John Kirby Career

John started his career as a surface warfare officer in the US navy in 1986 and was later positioned as public affairs officer. He served at sea abroad at the USS Forrestal aircraft career and the USS Mount Whitney command and control ship. John also worked as the editor in chief of the Navy’s flagship monthly magazine. He also became the Commander of US naval forces in Europe, chief of Naval operation, and as a special assistant for public affairs to the chairman of Joint chiefs of staff. He also served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations. In 2012, he became the rear admiral(lower) and started serving as the US navy chief of information (CHINFO), and served as the principal spokesman for the Department of the Navy.

In 2013, he was appointed as the Pentagon Press Secretary and by 2014, he was promoted to the Rear admiral position. The same year, he was announced as the new spokesperson for the US department of state, and the same year, he retired from the military. He held the position of Spokesman of the US state department as well as of the Assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs from 2015 to 2017. Kirby then started working as a military and diplomatic analyst for the CNN network in 2017 and is also currently working at the same position as of 2021. He was recently appointed as the Pentagon Press Secretary for the second time in Biden’s administration.

Social Media

John is not known to be on many social media platforms but has a well updated LinkedIn profile for maintaining professional connections. He is also known to be on Twitter since 2017 and currently has 23.6k followers.

Rear Admiral  John Kirby Biography
Real Name	John Francis Kirby
Birth Date	1963
Age (as of 2021)	58 Years
Birth Place	St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Nationality	American
Profession	Admiral
Religion	Christianity
Sun sign	Not Known
Physical Statistics
Height	in feet inches – 5’ 9” – in Centimeters – 175 cm
Weight	in Kilograms – 78 kg  –  in Pounds –  171 lbs
Shoe Size	10 (U.S.)
Hair Color	Brown
Eye Color	Dark Brown
Body Type	Slim
Family
Father	–
Mother	–
Sister	–
Brother	–
Qualification/Education
School	St Petersburg Catholic High
College	US Naval War College, University of South Florida
Relationship Status
Marital Status	Married
Affair	No
Wife	Donna Kirby
Children	Two

Personal Life

John is currently married to his wife Donna Kirby. The couple has not shared much about their married life but they are cherishing their marriage for more than 20 years. He also has a daughter named Meghan McDowell who was Anorexic and suffered from depression for over 6 years. He and his wife together helped Meghan overcome the disorder and she is now healthy. She got married in 2012 and is also a mother. He is currently settled in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and family.

Controversy

Being a Politian, John has been involved in a lot of controversies when he has been in news for his opinions and words. In 2014, he was called out as an “idiot” by John McCain after he contended that the US was winning the war against Iraq and Syria. A few years later in 2016, he came into the news after he defended Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen which caused spur among the media and public.

Recently in 2021, he was in the news after he was criticized by Tucker Carlson for his statements stat Kabul was not an imminent threat to the environment even after considering the situation of Afghanistan caused by the Taliban. This statement was not only criticized by Tucker but also created a heated discussion among the public.

Rear Admiral John Kirby Net Worth

John has been working as a naval officer as well as a politician for several years. He has held many important positions and has earned a lot of wealth. His net worth as of 2021 is estimated to be around $2million.

Trivia

• Kirby received the  Navy distinguished service medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Meritorious Service medal for his work in the Navy.
• He was also awarded the Joint service commendation medal, the Navy and Marine corps commendation medal, and the Navy and Marine corps Achievement medal.
• Kirby stood against Tucker Carlson on his point that maternity wear and haircut regulations were impacting their readiness and effectiveness in the US military.
• John recently held a press briefing as the pentagon press secretary to answer strategic and informatics questions regarding the US-Afghanistan situation and evacuation of US soldiers.
• John is is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan while his daughter was an Equestrian and athlete.