GLOBAL CENTER for PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT

A California native by birth, COL Figueroa was raised in Puerto Rico and joined the Army in 2000 as an enlisted Infantry Soldier. Soon after, he was accepted into the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at University of Fordham. He graduated at the top of his class and received a regular Army Officer commission as a Medical Service Corps Officer in 2003. Simultaneously, he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies with a minor in Cultural Anthropology and Philosophy from Hunter College.

Following commissioning, COL Figueroa attended the basic Medical Service Corps School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. As a company grade officer, he progressed through the traditional Medical Service Corps career assignments as platoon leader, company commander and battalion S3, while also serving in various nominative positions. He was selected for the U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer program in 2011, and in 2012 he attended the Naval Postgraduate School focusing on Security Studies in the Western Hemisphere and completed the Portuguese language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

FAO assignments have included serving as the Operations Officer at the United States Military Liaison Office (USMLO) in Brasilia, Brazil; Mexico Political Military Officer, U.S. Army North; Aide de Camp to the U.S. Army North Commander; Deputy for Mexico’s Senior Leader Engagement Branch, U.S. Army North; Army Section Chief, Security Cooperation Office in Lima Peru; Army Fellow and Senior Strategist Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans at the Department of Homeland Security HQs; Executive Officer to the Deputy Combatant Commander U.S. Southern Command; Military Deputy, Intelligence Security Cooperation Division (J29) U.S. Southern Command and Deputy, Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia Division (J5) U.S. European Command. COL Figueroa’s combat deployments include Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Colonel Figueroa is married to the former Melissa Gonzalez of Manhattan, New York, and they have two sons, Caleb (17) and Darian (12).