Jack Jacobs

By Catrina DubianskySeptember 1, 2020

2020 Hall of Fame Inductee

Rutgers University (1966)

Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)
Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Jack Jacobs, United States Army (Retired), speaks to crew members during a visit to USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The nuclear powered aircraft carrier and embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight are underway on a regularly scheduled deployment conducting maritime security operations. (December 29, 2005)
(Photo Credit: U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Stephen Early)
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Colonel Jack Jacobs entered the Army in 1966 as a second Lieutenant through Rutgers University ROTC program. Through his Army career, Jacobs has served as a platoon leader, executive officer, and went on to command a battalion, however, Jacobs’s Army career doesn’t stop there.

Jacobs was in Vietnam twice, both times as an advisor to Vietnamese Infantry Battalions. While he was there, Jacobs earned three Bronze Stars, Two Silver Stars, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. After serving over 21 years in the Army, Jacobs retired as a Colonel.

After retirement, Jacobs has continued his involvement with the Army. Currently, he splits his time between Rutgers University and the United States Military Academy as an Army ROTC instructor at every Military Science level.

Jacobs holds the McDermott Chair of Humanities and Public Affairs at the US Military Academy and is an on-air analyst for NBC News, where he was an Emmy nominee in 2010 and 2011 and a recipient of the 2011 Murrow Award for his work on the Nightly News segment “Iraq: The Long Way Out.” He is also the author of the Colby Award-winning memoir, If Not Now, When?, published by Penguin in October 2008.

About the Army ROTC Hall of Fame

The ROTC Hall of Fame was established in 2016 as part of the ROTC Centennial celebration. The first class (2016) inducted 326 former ROTC Cadets who had distinguished themselves in their military or civilian career.

The Hall of Fame honors graduates of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps who have distinguished themselves in military or civilian pursuits. It provides a prestigious and tangible means of recognizing and honoring Army ROTC Alumni who have made lasting, significant contributions to the Nation, the Army and the history and traditions of the Army ROTC Program.

Read more about all 16 of the 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees.