COMMANDING OFFICER, USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG 53)
Commander Brian Laws is the US Navy 2025-2026 Fellow at MIT's Security Studies Program. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island and raised in a Navy family, CDR Laws earned his commission in 2006 through the Navy ROTC program at the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
At sea, he served as Internal Communications Division Officer in USS ESSEX (LHD 2) in Sasebo, Japan; Fire Control Officer in USS PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60) in Pearl Harbor, HI; Assistant Navigator and Executive Watch Officer in BNS LOUISE-MARIE (F931) during a Personnel Exchange Program (PEP) tour in Belgium; Operations Officer in USS STERETT (DDG 104) in San Diego, CA; Operations Officer for COMDESRON 60 in Rota, Spain; Flag Secretary and N1 for Carrier Strike Group ELEVEN in Everett, WA. Ashore, he was a Maritime Warfare instructor in Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS), in Newport, RI.
CDR Laws earned a Master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S Naval War College and a Master’s in International Relations from American University. Most recently, CDR Laws completed his tour as Executive Officer, USS JOHN PAUL JONES and assumed the duties as Commanding Officer in July 2023.