John E. Bell III began serving as Executive Director, Loan Guaranty Service, on June 21, 2022.  He is responsible for delivering VA Home Loan Benefits to his fellow Veterans.  Mr. Bell has extensive mortgage industry experience having served in leadership roles with nationwide lenders for over 20 years before starting his career with VA in 2010.  Mr. Bell’s top priorities are ensuring that VA home loan benefits are the product of choice for Veterans and that Loan Guaranty is the VA program of choice for his 900 talented staff.   As Deputy Director, Mr. Bell was instrumental in VA Loan Guaranty Service’s fast response during the COVID-19 pandemic through frequent communications and the issuance of guidance which ensured that home loan benefits continued to be delivered to Veterans without delay and reassured industry partners at this critical time.  As Assistant Director, Mr. Bell leveraged his industry experience to initiate Loan Guaranty’s transformation to better align with the fast-paced mortgage industry. Several key projects included automating Certificate of Eligibility (COE) functionality, implementing national workload for full file loan reviews and COEs, and national workload for program specific phone calls.     Mr. Bell began his career in mortgage finance while attending Lambuth University in Jackson, TN.  Mr. Bell served in the US Navy during Operation Restore Hope and the Gulf War.