Sean Tucker

Lieutenant Colonel Sean Tucker joined the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies team in July 2024 and is a Military Professor. He previously served as a Security Cooperation Officer (SCO) at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo with the Mutual Defense Assistance Office (MDAO), where he was the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) team lead and Director of Japan Air Capability Development.

Lt. Col. Tucker is a certified USINDOPACOM Foreign Area Officer (FAO) with over twelve years of operational experience in the Indo-Pacific region, including extensive in-country experience in Japan and the Republic of Korea.  Along with his Security Cooperation Officer experience at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, his other significant roles in the region include serving as Deputy Chief of the Joint Reconnaissance Center at the USINDOPACOM Headquarters and an assignment as the Assistant Secretary of Strategy and Plans with the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) at Yongsan Garrison, Republic of Korea.

Additionally, Lt. Col. Tucker is a fully Joint Qualified Officer (JQO) with three completed joint duty tours and experience serving at the Squadron, Air and Space Operations Center (AOC), Sub-Unified Command staff, and Combatant Command staff levels. He has served in multiple deployed positions, including support to Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, ODYSSEY DAWN, and UNIFIED PROTECTOR. Finally, as an Information Integration Officer aboard the RC-135 V/W RIVET JOINT aircraft, he was his squadron’s primary Flight Instructor and Evaluator and flew 106 combat missions, totaling over 1,060 combat flight hours.

Lt. Col. Tucker was commissioned in 2004 as a University of Notre Dame Reserve Officer Training Corps graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He holds a Master of Science in International Relations degree from Troy University and an Associate of Arts in Japanese Language degree from the Defense Language Institute that was awarded as part of his Foreign Area Officer qualification training in 2016. His significant military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.