Lieutenant Commander Jason “Jay” Maenza is a native of Clayton, New Jersey and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) in August 2003. He holds a B.S. in Arabic from the U.S. Naval Academy, a M.S. in Management (Intelligence) from the University of Maryland University College, and a Space Systems Certificate from Naval Postgraduate School.
At sea, he has served as the Information Operations (IO) Officer for Carrier Strike Group TWELVE for a worldwide deployment onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).
Ashore, his tours have included Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Georgia as a Cryptologic Watch Officer and Deputy Division Chief; NIOC Norfolk as a Battle Watch Captain; the Junior Officer Cryptologic Career Program (JOCCP) with tours in multiple diverse national missions; and at Cryptologic Warfare Activity SIXTY SIX as a Department Head and a Chief of Operations for a national mission. Currently, he is serving as Executive Officer of the Fleet Survey Team aboard Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.
His personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Navy Achievement medal.