Col. John Atkinson began his career with the United States Marine Corps (USMC) in 1992 at USMC headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. He joined the Marines following several years with the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and worked with the strategic landpower task force in Washington, DC. In 2019 he became a subject matter expert in future concept visualization, planning, and articulation. In addition to his work writing about and editing capstone and operational concepts, among other projects, Col. John Atkinson serves as a professor of operational-level war and maritime operational warfare at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Additional areas of academic focus range from operational planning to matters of national security strategy.

Col. Atkinson holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Boston College. He continued his education at the Amphibious Warfare School at Marine Corps University in Quantico, earning a master of arts in planning as a distinguished graduate in 1999. More recently, he completed a military studies program at the USMC Command and Staff College at Marine Corps University. He also holds a master of science in national security strategy and policy from the US Naval War College.