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Mission History JSD Commander Major General John Lester Adjutant General Major General Stan Spears Organizational Chart General Staff Resource Links News JSD Home |
JSD Commander
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Major General John Lester John R. Lester was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in 1942 and moved to Florence, South Carolina in 1952. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 and a Jurist Doctorate degree in 1967, both from the University of South Carolina. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Fourth Circuit of Appeals, United States Federal District Court of South Carolina, Supreme Court of South Carolina, and Court of Military Appeals. |
He is a real estate lawyer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with the Law Firm of Lester, Lester & Harwell. He is an approved attorney for Chicago Title Insurance Company.
Major General Lester is serving as Commander of the Joint Services Detachment, South Carolina Military Department.
He spent four years on active duty as a legal officer for the Air Force, with assignments at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, Phang Rang Air Force Base, Republic of Vietnam and Athena Air Base, Greece. He served 16 years in the Air Force Reserve with assignments and duties at Shaw Air Force Base, Ninth Air Force, Tactical Air Command, Ramstein Air Base (Germany), Air Reserve Personal Center and the Pentagon. He is a retired Colonel from the United States Air Force Reserves.
He has been honored with the following decorations and awards: Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Short Tour Ribbon, Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon, Air Force Longevity Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Air Force Training Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross With Device, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, South Carolina Military Department Meritorious Service Medal, South Carolina Merit Ribbon, South Carolina Achievement Ribbon, South Carolina Service Ribbon.
He has
been chairman of the board of his church, president of a United Way
agency, vice-president of a community theater, board member of the state
trial lawyers association, founding member of the military law section
of the state bar, vice-president for the Air Force for the local Reserve
Officers Association, president of the South Carolina Bankruptcy Law
Association, and city judge. He has a commercial pilots license, is a
certified SCUBA diver, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (Korean
Karate), has been a judge and referee for amateur boxing, won numerous
awards at the South Carolina State Fair for his wines, is President of
SWAG (the local chapter of the American Wine Society), and is a
certified barbeque judge. He has been awarded the Billy Robinson Public
Service Award, and has been the South Carolina Pro Bono Lawyer of the
Year.
He is married to the former Jane Mellette of Timmonsville. They have a
daughter, Lydia, a summa cum laude graduate from the University of
Arizona now serving in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, and a son, Robert,
who is getting a Civil Engineering Degree from The Citadel.
