Army War College Fellows

2022-2023

LTC Paul (Pete) Peters

Lieutenant Colonel Paul (Pete) Peters is an Army War College Fellow at the Institute for Security, Policy, and Law at Syracuse University. He is a Functional Area 49 (Operations Research / Systems Analysis) Officer with more than 20 years of service. He is a native of Galesburg, IL. Peters commissioned in the United States Army as a second lieutenant in 2001 upon graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in International History and Comparative Politics. He also holds a Master’s of Arts in International Economics with a focus on China’s economy from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

His key military education includes the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Command and General Staff School, and the Operations Research Officer Qualification Course.

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His assignments include Intelligence Officer for the 1st Battalion/9th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), Camp Hovey, Republic of Korea; Assistant Intelligence officer for the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Ar Ramadi, Iraq; Intelligence Officer for the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, GA; Intelligence Analyst for the Army Evaluation Center, Army Test and Evaluation Command, Alexandria, VA; Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Social Sciences, West Point, NY; Battalion Executive Officer, Cleveland Recruiting Battalion, Cleveland, OH; Command ORSA for the Cyber Security Directorate and Data Science Directorate, Network Enterprise Technology Command, Fort Huachuca, AZ; and Instructor for the Operations Research / Systems Analysis Military Applications Course and OR Qualification Course, Fort Lee, VA.

His deployments include two tours for Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004 – Headquarters and Headquarters Company Executive Officer, 1st Battalion /9th Infantry Regiment, Ar Ramadi; 2007- Brigade Intelligence Officer for 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Camp Stryker, Baghdad).

His awards and honors include the Bronze Star Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Parachutist Badge, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and Navy Unit Commendation.


2021-2022

LTC Brett Carey

LTC Brett Carey

Lieutenant Colonel Brett Carey is a Functional Area 52 (Nuclear and Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction-CWMD) Officer with more than 32 years of service. He is a native of Scotia, NY, and New Limerick, ME. Carey enlisted in the Army in 1989 and was commissioned in 2001 from the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA. He earned a B.S. in Psychology/Management from Excelsior College and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with Specialization in Explosives Engineering from the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology.

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His key military education includes the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course, Command and General Staff School, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) School, Nuclear and CWMD Officer Qualification Course, and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.

His assignments include Heavy Anti-Armor Infantry, 2/22nd Infantry Battalion, Fort Drum, NY; EOD Sergeant, 149th EOD Detachment, Andrews AFB, MD; EOD Team Leader, 8th EOD Detachment, Camp Red Cloud, South Korea; Response NCO, 749th EOD Company, Andrews AFB, MD; Team Chief/Executive Officer 55th Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Company (WMD), Fort Belvoir, VA; Platoon Leader, 3rd COSCOM, Vilseck, Germany; EOD Operations Officer, Technical Escort Unit, Edgewood Area-Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; Company Commander, 737th EOD Company, Fort Belvoir, VA; Intel Officer, Joint Intelligence Task Force-Combatting Terrorism, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington DC; Weapons Effects Officer/Deputy Branch Chief, Physical Vulnerability Division, Defense Intelligence Agency, Bolling Air Force Base, DC; CWMD Program Manager, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA; Interagency Fellow, WMD Directorate, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC; and most recently, both the FA52 Proponent Manager and Dean of Nuclear/CWMD School, HQ Department of the Army, US Army Nuclear and CMWD Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA.

His deployments include four tours for Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-Liason Officer Task Force Bullet; 2004-EOD Operations Officer, Iraq Survey Group; 2006-EOD Company Commander; 2008-Senior Intel Officer, Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell-CEXC) and one tour for Operation Enduring Freedom (2014-Afghan National Security Force Analysis Team Chief, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command).

His awards and honors include the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Joint Achievement Medal, The Army Achievement Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Good Conduct Medal with 4 Bronze Knots, the Iraq Campaign Medal with 5 Campaign Stars, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with 1 Campaign Star, the Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Valorous Unit Award, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the FBI Director’s Certificate and the United States Secret Service Director’s Certificate.


2019-2020

COL Randolph M. Morgan

Col. Randolph M. Morgan is a Military Police officer with more than 24 years of service. He is a native of Tucson, AZ. Morgan was commissioned in 1995 from the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA. He earned a B.A. in History with a minor in Political Science from Northern Arizona University and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University.

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Morgan’s assignments include serving as Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Battalion S4 of 1-23rd Infantry, Fort Lewis, WA; OPFOR Team Chief and Battalion S3 of 2-364th (TS), Fort Lewis, WA; S3A 94th Military Police Battalion, Republic of Korea; Commander 18th Military Police Detachment (winner of the Brig. Gen. David H. Stem Award), Fort Huachuca, AZ; Task Force J3 for JTF Guardian in Afghanistan (OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM); S3 for the 93rd Military Police Battalion at Fort Bliss, TX, then deployed to Iraq (OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM); Force Protection Planner for the Standing Joint Forces Headquarters, USAFRICOM (Provost Marshal for JTF ODYSSEY GUARD) and then Branch Chief, J343 Antiterrorism Operations at USAFRICOM; Provost Marshal, Second Infantry Division and Director of Emergency Services (Area I), Republic of Korea; Deputy Chief of Staff, Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, GA; Commander, Benning CID Battalion, Fort Benning, GA; and most recently Executive Director, Defense Forensic Science Center, Gillem Enclave, GA.

Morgan’s military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Military Police Captains Career Course, Combined Armed Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College, Joint Combined Warfighting School (JPME II); and the Joint Interagency and Multi-National Planners Course.

Aawrds and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Parachutist’s Badge, the German Military Efficiency Badge in Silver, and the German Marksmanship (Shutzenscnaur) Badge in Gold. Morgan is authorized to wear the 9th Infantry Regiment “Manchu” belt buckle and is the recipient of the Order of the Marechaussee.


2018-2019

LTC Jacob Larkowich

COL Jacob J. Larkowich

Col. Jacob J. Larkowich is a native of San Francisco, CA. He was commissioned in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer in 1998. Larkowich served as a rifle platoon leader and rifle company executive officer in both 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment in the 25th Infantry Division and in the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.  Following the Infantry Captains’ Career Course, Larkowich commanded a rifle company in the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, US Army Europe’s Opposing Force at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

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After obtaining a masters degree, Larkowich was assigned to Headquarters, Department of the Army as a strategist in the Army’s War Plans Division. Once complete with the Army’s Command and General Staff College, he served as a Battalion Operations and Battalion Executive Officer in the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment and Brigade Operations Officer in the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division.

Larkowich was then assigned to the Australian School of Infantry where he served as an Exchange Instructor responsible for running reconnaissance, heavy weapons, sniper, and urban operations courses. Returning to the northern hemisphere, he was selected to command the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. He served as a Maneuver Task Force Senior Observer-Coach Trainer and as the Brigade Senior Observer-Coach Trainer at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. Larkowich deployed three times to Afghanistan and once to Iraq.

Larkowich’s military schooling consists of the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Infantry Captain’s Career Course, Combined Arms Services and Staff School, Command and General Staff College, Ranger School, Airborne School, Jumpmaster Course, Air Assault School, and Master Fitness Trainer Course. His civilian education consists of a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the US Military Academy and a Masters of Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Citation, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Inherent Resolve Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Army Staff Identification Badge.

Larkowich is married to Jacqueline (Mandra) Larkowich, and the couple has a four-year-old son, Asher.

AWC Report


2017-2018

COL Ryan O. Maender

Col. Ryan O. Maender is a Field Artillery officer with more than 22 years of service, including four overseas deployments. He is a native of Scotia, NY, and a 1995 graduate of Western New England College. Maender joins ISPL as an Army War College Fellow having most recently served as the Division G3 (Operations) of First Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS.

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Maender’s previous assignments include: Company Fire Support Officer, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry (“Manchus”) and Platoon Leader, 8th Battalion, 8th Field Artillery, Camp Hovey, Republic of Korea; Battery Executive Officer, 10th DIVARTY, Battalion Fire Support Officer, 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation (Attack), and Assistant Operations Officer, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, 10th Mountain Division (Light) Fort Drum, NY; Plans Officer, 101st DIVARTY, Battalion Fire Support Officer, 1-327 Infantry, Battery Commander, A/2-320 FA, Battery Commander, HSB/2-320 FA, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY; US Army Recruiting Company Commander, Montana, Aide-de-Camp to Commanding General, US Army Accessions Command, Fort Monroe, VA; Planner (G5), I Corps/Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Battalion Executive Officer, 2-12 Field Artillery, 4/2 Stryker Brigade, Brigade Executive Officer, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, and Chief of Plans (G5), 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA; Battalion Commander, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery (“Hamilton’s Own”), 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS.

His deployments include three tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I (2003-2004, 2008, and 2009-2010) and Operation Spartan Shield, Kuwait (2014-2015). His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star (two awards), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (eight awards), the Army Commendation Medal (three awards), the Army Achievement Medal (three awards), the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Army Recruiter Badge. He is a recipient of the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara and the Order of Saint Maurice.

Maender’s military education includes the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, the Aviation Officer Advanced Course, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, and the Joint Advanced Warfighting School. He was selected for the US Army War College for academic year 2018.

Maender holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Western New England College and a Master of Science in Strategic and Joint Planning from the National Defense University.

Larkowich is married to Jacqueline (Mandra) Larkowich, and the couple has a four-year-old son, Asher.

AWC Report


2016-2017

COL Michael S. McFadden

Col. Michael S. McFadden is a Master Aviator with more than 26 years military service. He is a native of Mandeville, LA. He enlisted in the Army in 1987 as a Combat Medic, serving six years with duty assignments in Germany and later as a Flight Medic with the 10th Mountain Division. He was commissioned in 1996 through Virginia Commonwealth University and received an MBA from Touro College.

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His assignments include: MEDEVAC Team Leader and Operations Officer, 377th Medical Company (Air Ambulance), Camp Humphries, Korea; MEDEVAC Team Leader, 50th Medical Company (Air Ambulance); Aide-de-Camp to the Assistant Division Commander (Support), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), FT Campbell, KY; Flight Platoon Leader and Operations Officer, 57th Medical Company (Air Ambulance), FT Bragg, NC; MEDEVAC Plans Officer, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade-Operation Enduring Freedom (I) Afghanistan; Battalion S3, 56th Medical Evacuation Battalion-Operation Iraqi Freedom (I) Iraq; Medical Recruiter, Syracuse, NY; Brigade Assistant S3 and later Commander, Task Force Charger (Fixed Wing Task Force), 101st Combat Aviation Brigade-Operation Enduring Freedom (VIII/IX,) Afghanistan; Captain’s Career Course Director, FT Sam Houston, TX; Commander, C CO 3rd Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade-Operation Enduring Freedom (XI) Afghanistan; Battalion Executive Officer, 3rd Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade; Brigade Executive Officer, Deputy Brigade Commander, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, FT Drum, NY; Battalion Commander, 5-158th Aviation Regiment, Ansbach, Germany.  His most recent assignment was as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence and FT Rucker, AL.

His military education includes: the AMEDD Officer Basic Course, Army Aviation Advanced Course, Initial Entry Rotary Wing Course, UH60 Blackhawk Qualification Course, Combined Arms Service Staff School, Command and General Staff College, and the Joint Planners Course.

McFadden’s awards and decorations are commensurate with his rank and positions and include:  Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with Valor and Numeral 3, Army Commendation Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.  He has earned the Combat Action Badge, Combat Medic Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge, Army Master Aviator Badge, Airborne Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Army Recruiter Badge. He is also the recipient of the Order of Saint Michael Award (Bronze).

AWC Report


2015-2016

COL Patrick Kaune

Col. Patrick Kaune graduated from Ohio State University and earned a commission as an Armor Officer in 1992. His assignments include Tank Platoon Leader for B/2-8 CAV and the HHC Executive Officer, Fort Hood, TX; Battalion Intelligence Officer for 1-9 IN, Camp Casey, Korea; Assistant Battalion S3 for 297th MI Battalion, Fort Gordon, GA; 10th Aviation Brigade Intelligence Officer and Collection Manager for CJTF Mountain, Commander of HHOC 110th Military Intelligence Battalion and HHC 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Fort Drum, NY; and G2 Operations Officer, ACE Chief, and 2nd Brigade Intelligence Officer, 1st Armored Division. Kaune was promoted to the rank of colonel at a Syracuse University ceremony in February 2016.

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Kaune commanded HHBN, 10th Mountain Division from January 2012 to September 2013. Most recently, he was assigned as the Command Inspector General for the 10th Mountain Division and selected for Senior Service College at the Army War College with duty as a Fellow at Syracuse University. His previous operational deployments include two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and three tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Kaune holds a BA in English Education from Ohio State University, an MA in Middle Eastern Security Studies from Kansas State University, and a Masters in Operational Planning from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). His military education includes the US Army War College, US Army Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms Services Staff School, Inspectors General Course, Infantry Officer Captain Career Course, Military Intelligence Captain Career Course, Counterintelligence Agent Course, Special Forces Assessment and Selection, Supply Management Course, Airborne School, and the Armor Basic Officer Leadership Course.

Kaune’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star (x 3), Meritorious Service Medal (x 3), Army Commendation Medal (Silver OLC), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal (Silver OLC), National Defense Service Medal (one Service Star), Afghanistan Campaign Medal (three Service Stars), Iraq Campaign Medal (two Service Stars), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon (three Service Stars), a NATO Medal, and the Parachutist Badge. He is married and the father of two children.

AWC Report


2014-2015

LTC Patricia K. Hagen

LTC Patricia K. Hagen

Lt. Col. Patricia K. Hagen joins ISPL having most recently served as the Executive Officer for the Oregon National Guard’s Joint Forces Garrison Command, consisting of four commands, four teams, and two companies. She facilitates directorate level coordination in support of combat unit training and domestic operational focus during federal and state emergencies …

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Hagen has served in a variety of assignments that include positions as the deputy director of personnel and operations. She has a background as a Military Police officer, logistician, and she previously served as a Contingency Contracting Officer in Iraq. In 2009-2010, she mobilized and deployed the largest number of Oregonians since World War II in support of the Global War on Terror.

She was commissioned in 1993 through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University of South Alabama. She is a Dual-Status Federal Technician and traditional National Guardsman in the Oregon National Guard.

AWC Report

COL Clyde Buckley

COL Clyde “Mike” Buckley

Col. Clyde “Mike” Buckley enlisted in the US Army in 1984. Rising through the ranks to Staff Sergeant, he attended the Benning School for Boys in Columbus, GA, the esteemed institute of higher learning often referred to as Officer Candidate School (OCS) …

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In 1992, Buckley was commissioned as an Ordnance Officer and began a journey that would take him to three continents, through 27 countries and six deployments. His civilian education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Management from Austin Peay State University and a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from Indiana University. Noteworthy military education includes the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) School, the Advanced Access and Disablement Course, Command and General Staff College (CGSC), Joint Professional Military Education/Joint Warfighting College (JPME), Defense Threat Reduction Agencies (DTRA) Joint Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction Planner Course, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Joint Humanitarian Course, and the US Army Inspector General Course.

Assignments and career highlights include duty as a Maintenance Supervisor with the 167th Signal Company in Vicenza, Italy; Platoon Sergeant with the 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) at Fort Campbell, KY; Platoon Leader with Bravo Company, 2nd Forward Support Battalion (FSB) at Camp Hovey, Korea; Company Commander of the 731st Ordnance Company (EOD) at Wright Patterson AFB; Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Education (DPE) at the US Military Academy; Battalion Operations Officer with the 242nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion at Fort Carson, CO; the US European Command’s (EUCOM) EOD and International Arms Control Officer in Stuttgart, Germany; Commander of the 84th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion; and the 1st Infantry Division Inspector General, Fort Riley, KS.

Buckley’s operational and combat deployments include Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991; Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans in 1996; Operation Southern Watch in Kuwait 2000; EUCOM EOD Officer for the Office of Security Cooperation-Tirana, Albania 2009; and Mayor and Headquarters Commandant for Forward Operating Base (FOB) Union III, Baghdad, Iraq in 2010. His most recent deployment was as the Commander of Joint Task Force Paladin-East, Bagram, Afghanistan in 2012-2013.

Awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (five awards), the Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge, and the Air Assault and Parachutist Badge. Hobbies and interests include endurance sports, martial arts and chess. Buckley is married to the former Angela Herman, and the couple has two sons, Douglas and Jakob, and four grandchildren by his daughters, Tashina and Mica.


2013-2014

LTC Craig Baumgartner

LTC Craig Baumgartner

Lt. Col. Craig Baumgartner joins ISPL having most recently served as commander of the 15th Engineer Battalion, Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt Garrison, Germany. He took command of the 15th Engineer Battalion in June 2010, and in October 2010 he led the unit during its support of operations New Dawn and Enduring Freedom. During this deployment, the battalion conducted more than 67 separate projects and completed an estimated $6.7 million worth of construction efforts …

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Baumgartner was commissioned in the US Army Corp of Engineers in May 1993 from the US Military Academy at West Point, NY, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Management. He also holds a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla and a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College at Newport, RI.

His previous assignments include at duty stations Fort Benning, GA; Fort Riley, KS; Fort Jackson, SC; Fort Stewart, GA; and in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Iraq.

AWC Report[


2012-2013

COL Casimir “Casey” Carey III

Col. Casimir “Casey” Carey III is a military intelligence officer with more than 23 years of commissioned service and three years of overseas deployments: Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait; Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq; deployment to Qatar; and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan …

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Although his lieutenant years were spent in Germany as a tank platoon leader and support platoon leader, he has since maintained a balance between intelligence collection and analytical assignments.

While in command of 319th Military Intelligence Battalion in southern Afghanistan from 2010-2011, his battalion provided tactical human intelligence, counterintelligence, and signals intelligence reporting to the brigade combat teams arrayed across Kandahar Province.

His unit mentored the first military intelligence company in the Afghan National Army and partnered with the Afghan Customs Police to enhance its training and security measures. As the operations officer of 525th Military Intelligence Brigade in 2005, he was charged with coordinating the intelligence collection activities of intelligence teams spread across 90,000 square miles of Iraq.

During the 2007-2008 “surge” to stop the sectarian violence and stabilize Iraq, Carey was the chief of Iraq Branch at US Central Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, providing ongoing analysis that influenced national-level decisions. In this capacity, he collaborated with several ministries of defense in coalition countries and deployed to Iraq to reinforce the Combined Intelligence Operations Center in Baghdad with analytical expertise.

During an earlier tour in Baghdad during 2004, he served as XVIII Airborne Corps’ chief of imagery intelligence and signals intelligence in its Analysis & Control Element, focusing on identifying border infiltration routes employed by weapons smugglers and foreign fighters.

Before the Global War on Terrorism, he served as an armor battalion intelligence officer, company commander, and airborne infantry brigade senior intelligence officer in the 82d Airborne Division. 

Carey completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a Master of Arts at Northern Illinois University. He was appointed an assistant professor at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY in 2002.

After leaving ISPL, Carey was assigned to Fort Huachuca, AZ to serve as a US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Capability Manager for Intelligence Sensors at the US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence.

Geoff Stevens

COL Geoffrey D. Stevens

Col. Geoffrey D. Stevens was Army War College Fellow at ISPL from 2011 to 2012. He is an experienced practitioner of national security, serving as an officer in the Army for 23 years, specializing in the fields of explosive ordnance disposal, counter-improvised explosive device operations, and joint and interagency operations …

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His experience includes command during combat at the battalion level; a joint assignment on the US Northern Command staff; multiple combat deployments, including Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Desert Storm; multiple interagency operations in support of civil authorities, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Gerald Ford’s State Funeral, numerous space shuttle launches, and multiple responses to incidents of recovered explosive ordnance and improvised explosive devices across the western US; and overseas operational assignments in Korea and Germany.

Stevens most recently served as the Deputy Commander of the 71st Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) in Colorado, where he ran the headquarters that oversaw the operations and deployment preparation of all Army explosive ordnance disposal forces in the western US. Before that assignment, he commanded the 79th Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) in Texas for two years, where he deployed to Iraq from February 2009 until February 2010 in support of the 1st Cavalry Division and led the counter-IED fight in Baghdad, while also supporting the establishment of a capable Iraqi counter-IED capability.

Stevens also served as a member of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters as US Northern Command in Colorado from 2004 until 2008, where he focused on domestic operations and preparedness in support of state and interagency partners. He was also part of the team that wrote and implemented the synchronization plan to ensure all geographic command plans for pandemic influenza were supportable and achieved the requirements established by the US Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Stevens received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Norwich University and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

AWC Report


Gen. Wayne A. Downing Scholars

Don Canterna

MAJ Don Canterna

Combating Terrorism Center, US Military Academy, Class of 2014

Maj. Don Canterna received his commission as an engineer officer in 2001 upon graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. In 2004, Canterna was approved for a branch transfer and was reclassified as an infantry officer.

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Canterna’s military schooling includes the Engineer Officer Basic Course, Infantry Captain’s Career Course, Airborne School, Ranger School, Sapper Leader Course, and Jumpmaster School. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star with “V” device and two oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, , NATO Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, and the Sapper Tab.

Canterna’s assignments have included Combat Engineer Platoon Leader, Assault and Obstacle Platoon Leader, and Company Executive Officer in the 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, CO. Following the Infantry Captain’s Career Course, he was assigned as the Brigade Plans Officer for 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Hovey, Republic of Korea. He was then assigned as the Assistant Operations Officer and Bravo Company Commander of 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Canterna’s most recent assignment was as the Battalion Adjutant and Bravo Company Commander for 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, WA. He has deployed five times to both Afghanistan and Iraq.