Jonathan Scott Gration (born 1951)[1] is a former United States Air Force officer who worked as a policy advisor to President Barack Obama.

He remained in the Air Force for three decades, flying 274 combat missions and being awarded the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and various other decorations.

[2][3] Gration subsequently worked as United States Ambassador to Kenya from 2011 to 2012 before resigning in the face of potential disciplinary action for unclassified email use and other issues.

[10] After his family returned to the United States, he studied at Rutgers University, where he enlisted in the ROTC program and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

In December 1985 he was posted to USAF Headquarters in Washington to advise on international political and military affairs in the Office of Regional Plans and Policy.

[9] Press reports say that in 2009, as a senior official on Obama's transition team, Gration called and emailed several of President Bush's Pentagon appointees to inform them they were being dismissed.

Gration's nomination became difficult because the law requires that the space agency chief be appointed from civilian life by the president by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

[19] Gration and his team were able to coordinate an end to the Chad-Sudan conflict,[20] unify most of the Darfur rebel groups and encourage their participation in the Doha peace talks,[21] and assist the 2010 Sudanese national elections[22] and the 2011 Southern Sudan referendum on independence.

"[24] In a March 2013 speech at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson called U.S. efforts led by Gration and Lyman "a major accomplishment" of the Obama administration.

Carson said: "Under the leadership of President Obama's special envoys, first General Scott Gration and now Ambassador Princeton Lyman, the United States led international efforts to reinvigorate the CPA.

His tenure as ambassador coincided with armed intervention by Kenya in Somalia, in response to the growing influence of Al-Shabaab, a subsidiary of Al Qaeda.

[4] News reports stated that Gration resigned weeks before the scheduled release of a U.S. government audit highly critical of his leadership at the embassy and the start of potential disciplinary action against him.

[29] Speaking in 2015, Gration attributed his resignation to "the use of Gmail in the US Embassy, my insistence on improving our physical security posture, and other twisted and false allegations".

[7] According to an article in Ars Technica, he "worked out of a bathroom because it was the only place in the embassy where he could use an unsecured network and his personal computer, using Gmail to conduct official business.

"[30] The Inspector General's report on Gration's behavior stated that "The Ambassador has lost the respect and confidence of the staff to lead the mission" and that his leadership had been "divisive and ineffective."

[7][32] He also released a memoir, Flight Path: Son of Africa to Warrior-Diplomat (Mulami Books, 2016), telling his life story and defending himself against the charges that led to his resignation.