University Calendar
A Conversation with Jack Jacobs: Covering the Military in the Age of Political Divide
Colonel Jack Jacobs currently serves as a military analyst for NBC and MSNBC, providing expert analysis on national and international military affairs across the range of news programs on both networks. Jacobs regularly appears on programs such as the Today Show, the 11th Hour with Brian Williams, and the Rachel Maddow Show, amongst many others. He will speak at Montclair State about the challenge of media coverage of the military and military actions in the current era of political divide. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Keith Strudler, director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Register here.
Jacobs entered military service through Rutgers ROTC, where he earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree. He earned the Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism on the battlefields of Vietnam. He also holds three Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars.
Jacobs was an adviser to a Vietnamese infantry battalion when it came under a devastating fire that disabled the commander. Although bleeding from severe head wounds, then-First Lieutenant Jacobs took command, withdrew the unit to safety, and returned again and again under intense fire to rescue the wounded and perform life-saving first aid. He saved the lives of a U.S. adviser and 13 allied soldiers.
Jacobs served on the faculty of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the National War College in Washington, D.C. After retirement, he founded and was chief operating officer of Auto Finance Group. As a managing director of Bankers Trust Co., he led Global Investment Management to $2.2 billion in assets and later co-founded a similar business for Lehman Brothers.
He is a director of the Medal of Honor Foundation. Jacobs is the co-author of If not now, When? , a book that looks back at his own military service and ahead to America's future.