Jarrard served in the Army National Guard while at UNG, then commissioned and entered active duty in May 1988 as a second lieutenant. Jarrard served as platoon leader with 7th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, in Germany and deployed during Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait. He then served at the 5th Ranger Training Battalion at Fort Benning, Georgia. He completed numerous specialized courses including Basic Airborne Course at Fort Bragg, Army Ranger Course at Fort Benning and Air Assault School located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Jarrard received assignment to 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii where he served as company commander with 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment and later Assistant S3 with 3rd Brigade. In 2001, Jarrard volunteered for and completed a specialized selection course and operator training course for assignment to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta (1st SFOD-D), publicly known as Delta Force, at Fort Bragg, where he held numerous leadership positions including squadron operations officer, troop commander, executive officer, squadron commander and unit commander. Jarrard planned, rehearsed and operated during classified operations overseas and deployed in support of multiple combat operations including Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom.[10] Jarrard was Senior Service College Fellow at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies from 2010 to 2011.[11] Jarrard earned a Master of Science degree in military operational art and science from the Air University, Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.[6]
Jarrard served various command and staff assignments including deputy commanding general for operations, 7th Infantry Division from 2013 to 2014, Director, Pakistan and Afghanistan Coordination Cell, J-5, Joint Staff from July 2015 to July 2017, Commander of Special Operation Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve from Sept 2017 to July 2018, Director of Operations, J3, Joint Special Operations from 2018 to 2019, Commanding General of the 25th Infantry Division from 2019 to 2021, then as the Chief of Staff, US INDOPACOM at Camp Smith, Hawaii.[12]