SSG Joseph DeJesus (DJ) began his military career in the 82nd Airborne Division, located in Ft. Bragg, NC. He served as an 11B, Infantry Soldier in the 1st BDE, 1-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, (now 1st BDE Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division) from July 1998 thru Jul 2001. As a young Soldier, he competed to earn the Expert Infantry Badge (EIB). After completing his first enlistment contract, he enlisted into the New Jersey National Guard, 42nd ID, 2-113th Infantry Regiment, where he completed and was awarded the Air Assault Badge.
SSG De Jesus completed his eight-year military obligation in 2005, and pursued an Associate's Degree in Paralegal Studies at Essex County College in Newark, NJ.
In 2008, SSG. De Jesus realized that his call to duty was not over and decided to re-enlist into the United States Army Reserve. As a SPC, SSG De Jesus served in the 800th MP BDE located in Hempstead, Long Island, New York serving in the capacity of 92Y, Supply Specialist. In May 2011, SSG De Jesus was promoted to SGT and transferred to the 533rd Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) located in Ft. Totten, NY. During his tenure at the 533rd BSB he was awarded two ARCOMs, and three AAMs.
In 2014, then SGT De Jesus, transferred to the 16th Legal Operations Detachment (TDS) located in Brooklyn, NY. SSG De Jesus served as a Paralegal NCO, mentoring seven paralegals in his squad. During his tenure he completed and won Best Warrior Competition 2 years in a row and was awarded one ARCOM and two AAMs.
On May 2016, after completing his Bachelor's in Criminal Justice Studies from Rutgers University (Newark, NJ Campus), SSG De Jesus returned to Ft. Bragg, NC to deploy with the XVIII Airborne Corps in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR). SSG De Jesus successfully deployed and returned stateside from theater, earning an OSR, JSAM, GWOT-EM, GWOT-SM and a GCM.
Upon returning stateside, he attended paralegal specialist school located in Ft. Lee, VA and was hand selected to mobilize to Legal Command (USARLC) in Gaithersburg, MD, where he served as an Operations NCO for fourteen months. While at USARLC, he was promoted to SSG. After his mobilization concluded in Maryland, he accepted another mobilization to the 99th Readiness Division (99th RD) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ serving as the Operations NCOIC.
Shortly thereafter, SSG DJ accepted his first AGR tour at the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) located in Des Moines, IA where he is currently serving.
