After commissioning from the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School as a second lieutenant in 1997, COL Leffler served as a tactical military intelligence officer in the Republic of Korea and at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where he commanded a headquarters company in U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He also served as a member of the U.S. contingent to International Forces East Timor (INTERFET). He was then assigned to Special Operations Command-Pacific in Hawaii. From Hawaii, he also served as a member of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force in Zamboanga, Philippines.

COL Leffler then attended the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after which he was assigned as Director of Plans and Policy for the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group (JUSMAGTHAI) at the U.S. Embassy in Thailand. After leaving Bangkok, he worked in the Security Cooperation Division at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was then selected to serve as Military Advisor to the Ambassador, U.S. Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia.

After returning to the U.S., COL Leffler worked in the Department of the Army Senior Leader Development Office, where he was the Human Resource Manager for Foreign Area Officer (FAO) colonels worldwide. He was then selected for Senior Service College, which he completed as a Military Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. He then served as U.S. Army Attaché and Acting Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché (SDO/DATT) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Currently, COL Leffler is the U.S. Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché (SDO/DATT) and Chief of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group-Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI) in Bangkok, Thailand.

He has a Master’s degree in Southeast Asia Studies from Ohio University, a Bachelor’s in International Relations from The Ohio State University, an Associate’s in Thai Language from the Defense Language Institute, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Studies from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has studied the Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Urdu languages.

He has received various decorations and awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, the Korea Defense Service Medal, and the Senior Parachutist Badge.

COL Leffler is a native of the great state of Ohio. He has a daughter, who also served as a U.S. Army officer, and a son, who is working towards an undergraduate degree in aviation.

(Current as of February 2025)