A.J. (Alexander John) Ruggieri, J.D., LL.M.

Relevant Work Experience

United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service, Illinois – State Public Affairs Specialist (Full time, 40+ hours per week)

● Lead Public Affairs officer, communications planner, multimedia content producer, and trusted advisor to the Illinois State Conservationist (highest ranking USDA NCRS person in the state) providing guidance related to strategic messaging across local, state, regional, and national platforms resulting in communication objectives being met and an increase of public awareness of NRCS programming.

● Directed and advised three other employees and was responsible for the team’s project planning, management, and execution as well as reporting progress, challenges, and proposed solutions to the State Conservationist bi-weekly and at all senior staff meetings.

● Responsible for managing the public affairs budget and for making recommendations to senior staff regarding the use of funds in supporting statewide events resulting in the successful execution of planned engagements achieving the goals of the strategic communication plan.

● Primary advisor and consultant on all social media and web-based content representing NRCS in the state of Illinois to regional and national USDA leaders to include externally directed messaging and internally developed and produced multimedia products.

United States Africa Command – J5 Strategy, Engagements, and Programs Directorate, Office of Security Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Mogadishu, Somalia, Africa – Deputy Chief, Chief (Full time, 50+ hours per week)

● Lead the Office of Security Cooperation that comprised of three Department of Defense (DoD) employees and required coordination with four other allied nations and organizations while being a trusted advisor to the US Ambassador to Somalia on all DoD related engagements and matters of security cooperation primarily focused in providing programming, training, and equipment to the Somalia armed forces.

● Supervised the execution of over $7 million DoD funded projects that enhanced the capabilities of the Somalia armed forces from improving their logistics, assisting them in structuring their personnel, and working directly with high level Somalia government agencies to ensure consistent and dependable operations between US and Somalia.

● Directly contributed to two successful visits of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) four-star General and commander to Somalia which positively increased the international relation and sustained the shared efforts to fight active violent extremist organizations and stabilize the region.

● Coordinated with Department of State (DoS) public diplomacy section at the US Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, to provide public affairs and communication guidance as it related to DoD, produced photographic and other multimedia content that was used on official US Embassy social media platforms, and advised key DoS and DoD leaders on the status of the information environment in Somalia and East Africa.

United States Africa Command – J5 Strategy, Engagements, and Programs Directorate, Office of Security Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Cotonou, Benin, Africa – Chief (Full time, 50+ hours per week)

● Lead the Office of Security Cooperation comprised of one Department of Defense (DoD) employee, three locally employed staff, and coordination with five other Department of State (DoS) sections in all security cooperation programming for the country of Benin resulting in seamless operations, better US government (USG) relationship, and increased national security.

● Trusted advisor to the US Ambassador to Benin on all DoD related engagements and matters of security cooperation that consisted of over $50 million in Title 22 funded programming, over $30 million in Title 10 funded programming, $800 thousand in International Military Education & Training (IMET) programming, over $15 million in foreign military sales, and over $340 million in funding for USG military training exercises providing valuable assets and needed success to host nation in their fight against active violent extremist organizations.

● Directly responsible for three successful general officer visits, AFRICOM Director of J5, Commander of Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF), and Commander of the Southern European Task Force – Africa (SETAF-AF) to host nation government and Benin armed forces resulting in stronger partnerships,continued cooperation, and future plans for strategic, operational, and tactical success aligning with US interests.

● Reviewed and validated all USG run training programs in Benin ensuring the highest quality in instruction and promoting excellence in host nation force readiness.

● Advised Department of State (DoS) public diplomacy section at the US Embassy in Cotonou, Benin, to provide public affairs and communication guidance as it related to DoD presence and US interests in West Africa, and consulted key DoS and DoD leaders on the status of the information environment in coastal West Africa.

Combined Joint Task Force/East Africa Response Force - Horn of Africa Public Affairs Directorate, Djibouti, Africa - Deputy Director (Full time, 50+ hours per week)

● Second in command and lead communications planner for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF - HOA) Public Affairs Directorate, the only full-time military public affairs team on the African continent. Directly responsible for preparing and executing strategic whole of government messaging in conjunction with all DoD, DoS, and other USG entities operating specifically in East and Central Africa while supporting communication and messaging throughout the rest of the continent that contributed to numerous successful missions to include the evacuation of US diplomatic personnel from Sudan and the interdiction of Bilal al-Sudani in Somalia.

● Head administrative officer in charge of all personnel issues over a team of 12 people from three different branches of the military to include project assignments, reviewing and assessing position descriptions, assessing performance to include completing periodic evaluations, team time management, resolving internal conflicts, and preparing reports for senior leadership on the same.

● Drafted and reviewed proposed public affairs policy in conjunction with AFRICOM, SETAF-AF, SOCAF, and Navy Command Africa (NAVAF) public affairs for top-tier AFRICOM training exercises to include Justified Accord, Cutlass Express, and African Lion while managing local public affairs policy for CJTF - HOA training exercises and crisis response that ensured effective, consistent, and precise USG messaging throughout Africa.

● Trusted advisor to the Commanding General (CG) as a member of special staff on public affairs policy, media operations, congressional affairs, senior leader engagements, talking points, speeches, social media engagements, and strategic messaging. Personally wrote over 10 speeches and contributed to over 20 others for the CG at CJTF- HOA and Commanding General of AFRICOM. Directly assisted in synchronized messaging with Embassies in Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, South Africa, Kenya, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Mauritius furthering USG strategic objectives.

● Acted as key advisor and assessments officer to strategic plans section (J5) of CJTF - HOA specifically to include key leader engagements, performance effectiveness, and assessments of goals in support of CJTF -HOA campaign plan contributing to successful completion of CG’s directives.

● Lead manager of partner foreign association relations (France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Sierra Leone) for messaging and multimedia content coordination to include supervising training programs in public affairs in military-to-military knowledge exchanges resulting in an increase of cooperation and partner capability.

● Directly managed engagements with top tier US and foreign media outlets, one of which resulting in effective pro USG messaging reaching 55 million readers (Economist feature article “China in Africa”.)

Ruggieri PC, Savoy, Illinois - President, Principal Attorney (Prior to Feb 2022, Full time 40+ hours per week)

● Leading law firm manager and attorney focused in transactional law related to business formation and management, and real estate contracts.

● Review and draft complex contract agreements and supplementary documents requiring extreme attention to detail and accuracy to terms and context.

● Counselor and advocate for clients in the forming of business entities, sales or purchases of businesses, sale or purchases of assets, sale or purchases of business interests (stocks, member interests, etc.)

● Responsible for effective and concise communication during periods of negotiation related to multi-million-dollar purchase and sale agreements.

Illinois Army National Guard, Urbana, Illinois - Major, Infantry & Public Affairs Officer (Outside of Active-duty deployments, part time, hours varied)

● Commander of the 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Chicago, Illinois, from March 2017 to September 2021. Field grade command (in charge of all administrative and operational requirements) over 25 US Army public affairs professionals directly responsible for strategic messaging, media relations, content production (to include photo, video, social media, and public affairs guidance), and advising senior Illinois Army National Guard officials.

● Public Affairs field team lead for Illinois National Guard’s response to COVID-19 from March 2020 to August 2020 resulting in synchronized communication and messaging among multiple state agencies, personally advising the Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard in over 20 media engagements and being the primary organizer of over 10 press conferences wherein several served as the official spokesperson for the Illinois National Guard.

● Lead public affairs officer for Illinois National Guard State activation to historic levels of river flooding in the state during the June of 2019 responsible for interagency communications and messaging synchronization in support of Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s efforts.

● Acting Director for public affairs for the State of Alaska National Guard for Exercise Arctic Eagle 2020 responsible for leading the multibranched public affairs team and supervising all messaging and multimedia content in addition to being featured as the DoD spokesperson of the exercise.

● Lead public affairs officer working with US Army Central Command(ARCENT) for exercise Eager Lion, Amman, Jordan, in September 2019 providing public affairs guidance for the exercise to the on-the-ground commander of ARCENT and providing coverage for Illinois National Guard’s participation in the exercise.

● Company commander C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry consisting of 120 US Army soldiers from October 2012 to July 2014.

● Deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as Team Chief for Police Mentor /Combat Advisor Team leading 14 US Army soldiers as part of Task Force Phoenix VIII, Afghanistan, from August 2008 to August 2009.

Illinois full-time certified Police officer

Former Assistant State’s Attorney - Champaign County Illinois

Education

University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign - B.A. in Political Science and Spanish

University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, Police Training Institute – Basic Law Enforcement course graduate

Western Michigan Cooley Law School, Lansing, MI - J.D. General Law, graduated Cum Laude

Western Michigan Cooley Law School, Lansing, MI - LL.M. (Master of Law) Corporate Law and Finance

Defense Information School, Ft. Meade, MD - Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course graduate (equivalent of a master’s degree in communication, messaging, and media relations)

Department of State, Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, Blackstone, VA – Foreign Affairs Counter Threat course graduate