May 20, 1987John Steven Paulus III was born September 09, 1967 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to European immigrants. At the age of 9, he and his family moved to Oxford, Connecticut where he resided until the age of 18.
Shortly after graduating from Seymour High School, he enlisted and entered the Army on November 05, 1985. Immediately upon graduating from Basic Training and Advanced Infantry School, he volunteered for and completed Airborne School where upon he went through the Army's Ranger Indoctrination Program before being assigned to the elite, 3rd Battalion- 75th Ranger Regiment.
Immediately recognized by his superiors for his superlative leadership, intestinal fortitude, and mental acumen, he was given a coveted Army Ranger School slot in advance of his contemporaries. Upon completing a punishing 3 week Pre-Ranger Course, he was assigned to Ranger Class 7-87.
Throughout the grueling 58 day Ranger course, other course students relied on him for his tactical skills and his ability to motivate. He soon stood out to course instructors who were impressed by the young 19 year olds remarkable leadership skills and uncanny knowledge of infantry doctrine. During the 58 day course, he managed on less than 3 hours of sleep a day, often going consecutive days without sleep. Surviving on just 1 1/2 meals a day, he lost nearly 40 pounds and weighed 118 pounds at his graduation. For his physical and mental stamina, his leadership, tactical knowledge, having gained the respect of his peers and instructors, and far exceeding all course standards, he was recognized as an Honor Graduate of the world's toughest military school.
Upon returning to his unit, he was immediately promoted to Specialist. Soon he was given a team leader position, followed by his own squad. He was often cited as soldier and non-commissioned officer of the month.
Confident in his abilities, during the invasion of Panama, he became the youngest non-commissioned officer to be a senior jumpmaster of a combat airborne jump. During combat operations he continued to demonstrate bold courage when he bravely pulled a wounded soldier from danger and immediately performed first aid, likely saving the soldier from bleeding to death. He and another ranger recognized the severity of the wounded soldier and under sporadic enemy gunfire, carried him to a medivac location.
At the age of 7, while his father spoke to him about the Special Forces, he made a promise to one day bring him the coveted Green Beret. In keeping with that promise, in 1990 he submitted paperwork for the Special Forces selection course.
In August of 1990, he attended the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in hopes of being chosen to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course. Two days before the end of the rigorous selection process, where nearly 40% of students either quit or aren't selected, his dreams were nearly crushed when more than 400 pounds were dropped on his foot, breaking it. Undeterred, he asked the Army physician to wrap it and requested some pain medication.
The next morning, as part of the final phase of the selection process, he was required to complete a 28 mile road march with a 70 pound rucksack, 20 pound utility belt, and an 8 pound weapon. While attempting to keep the weight off his broken foot, he fractured his other foot just 2 miles into the march. Remarkably, and in keeping with his "never quit" attitude, he completed the march with 28 minutes to spare. The next day, with crutches, a cast on one foot, and a "fracture shoe" on the other, he walked across the stage and accepted his selection papers to applause.
During the Special Forces Course he once again demonstrated superlative skills, professionalism, and superior performance and as result, he was selected as an Honor Graduate. He fulfilled his promise to his father that he made 17 years earlier and immediately gave him the Green Beret he earned after the graduation ceremony.
Upon graduating from the elite Special Forces Course, he was assigned to the Army Language school where he studied Russian 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, for 6 months. Not one to under achieve, he set himself apart from the other students by excelling in the course and was named the Distinguished Honor Graduate upon completion of the school.
He was then assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group located in Ft. Devens, Massachusetts. Because of his special skills as a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) qualified soldier and as a qualified HALO Jumpmaster he was assigned to one of the units elite specialty teams. Once again, he exhibited outstanding leadership and within a few months he was given the senior communications' position.
During his time with Special Forces, he volunteered to undergo prisoner of war and survival training. For 5 days, he survived on a total of 14 ounces of wild berries. As part of the training, he experienced prisoner of war treatment where he was denied sleep, punched, slapped, had a hood placed over his head while a hose filled it with water, was locked in an 18 inch by 24 inch by 30 inch box while hooded, and was fed a cup of white rice for 3 1/2 days. In the course, despite being severely hazed, he was the last soldier to give in to his "captives" demands and only did so when ordered by the senior military officer. Once again, he earned the respect of his course peers and instructors.
Paulus participated in a number of peacekeeping and covert missions during his military career. One of his overt missions was his assignment to Turkey as part of Operation Provide Comfort II. There, he worked to support Kurds located in Northern Iraq and enforced the No-Fly Zone.
Upon completion of his 3 month assignment, he was chosen to attend the Institute of Foreign Communications in Saint Petersburg, Russia. After graduating from the school with a 4.0, he returned to the United States.
In September of 1993, he was chosen to represent the United States Military as part of a 6 month assignment which had him working with high level officials within the various Ministry of Defense Departments throughout the former Soviet Union. Impressed by his organizational skills, his diplomacy, his ability to get complicated assignments accomplished, and the professional manner in which he represented himself the United States government, the US Ambassador to Belarus made a personal appeal to his command that his assignment be extended an additional six months.
For his hard work, the Ukrainian and Belorussian government awarded him a special letter of recognition. Additionally, the US Secretary of Defense authorized that one of the highest peace time medals be awarded to him.
Upon returning to the United States, he was assigned to the Special Operation Test and Experimentation Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he specifically tested the functionality of various parachutes against the vortices's of specific fixed-winged aircraft. In character, he put his life at risk in order to ensure the safety of others.
In March of 1997, John Steven Paulus III was honorably discharged from the United States Army and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida where, for 2 years, he assisted in managing an five-diamond restaurant. When the restaurant was sold, he was hired at a copy company as a bookkeeper and within two years was promoted to general manager. After working at the company for 4 years, he decided to enter real estate where he remodeled and flip homes for 2 years before moving back to North Carolina in January 2005. In August of 2005, he earned his North Carolina Real Estate Broker's License. In April of 2006, John began blogging and currently operates 3 successful and internationally known blogs. His JohnPaulus.com website is in the top 1% for recorded comments.
A few of John Steven Paulus III's many awards and decorations:
Ranger School Video:
Special Operation Video:
Special Forces Video:
Special Forces Qualification Course
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HALO Video:
Answers to your questions will be posted here periodically. If you wish to have you questioned answered, please submit to JohnPaulus@Gmail.com.
Why did you post your biography?
It's imperative that I define who I am and what I've accomplished in life and not be defined by others who wish to misrepresent my character and achievements. In addition to that, I would like to be an example to others who may have had aspirations, but thought about giving up on them because they were too difficult to achieve. My experience has taught me that if you want something badly enough, your heart will give you that strength to accomplish those things long after your mind has given up.
Why do you look so sad in your picture?
The photograph was taken shortly after I graduated Ranger School. I was physically and mentally exhausted, having lost nearly 40 pounds and surviving on less than 175 hours of sleep in 58 days. My body was still in shock and adjusting. The days leading up to that photograph, I spent eating whatever I possibly could and sleeping most of the time. Graduating from Ranger School and earning my Ranger tab was one of the happiest days of my life, but the day that photograph was taken, all I truly wanted to do was eat and go back to sleep.
Why do you look so sad in your picture?
The photograph was taken shortly after I graduated Ranger School. I was physically and mentally exhausted, having lost nearly 40 pounds and surviving on less than 175 hours of sleep in 58 days. My body was still in shock and adjusting. The days leading up to that photograph, I spent eating whatever I possibly could and sleeping most of the time. Graduating from Ranger School and earning my Ranger tab was one of the happiest days of my life, but the day that photograph was taken, all I truly wanted to do was eat and go back to sleep.
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