Heroes’ Path Board Members

John Fenzel - Founder

Colonel John Fenzel, U.S. Army (Retired), is a retired Special Forces colonel whose 40-year career spans frontline command, White House policymaking and the management of large learning organizations.

As a White House Fellow and later Staff Director for the Homeland Security Council, he drafted seven presidential executive orders and designed the Homeland Security Advisory System, the nation's original color-coded alert system for terrorism threats.

During Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he led a Special Forces A-Team that trained and accompanied a Kuwaiti battalion in the liberation of Kuwait. He later commanded three Special Forces companies, pioneering the Army's first deployments to Pakistan and the Baltic States. In Bosnia he directed joint special-operations teams across U.S. and British sectors and helped the United Nations secure war-crimes indictments for Srebrenica, becoming the only active-duty American officer to testify at The Hague for the ICTY.

As commander of the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Camp Mackall, he oversaw Special Forces Assessment and Selection and the Qualification Course for 6,000 candidates a year across a 15,000-acre campus, with a flawless safety record and an $11 million budget. As chief operations officer for U.S. Army Accessions Command, he synchronized recruiting and ROTC programs for 45,000 personnel worldwide.

In civilian life he revitalized the World War II Foundation, eliminating its debt and expanding its global distribution. He founded Heroes' Path, a 501(c)(3) that pairs onsite leadership experiences around the world with AI-enabled curriculums and educational programs. He has led leadership experiences for Fortune 100 executives, federal agencies and major-city police chiefs across the nation.

John is a graduate of the Naval War College and the National War College. Born in Iowa and raised outside Chicago, he lives with his wife and three children in Annapolis, Maryland.