John F. Bradford is a Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnerships Fellow, the Executive Director of the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) and an adjunct senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). He has previously held research positions with the Council on Foreign Relations in Jakarta and Tokyo. His research focuses on Asian security with special attention given to maritime issues and cooperative affairs. Before becoming a full-time community builder and researcher, he spent more than twenty-three years as a U.S. Navy officer. His service history included command of a ballistic missile defense-capable Aegis destroyer, an assignment at the 7th Fleet Regional Cooperation Coordinator, and a term as Country Director for Japan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy). John holds a PhD from King's College London. As an Olmsted Scholar, he studied in the Department of Political Science at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia and completed an MSc (Strategic Studies) from RSIS. He also graduated from Japan’s National Institute of Defence Studies, the US Naval War College and Cornell University. He is particularly proud of the training he received as a midshipman aboard the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Rahmat.