Dr. Sepp was responsible for the United States Department of Defense global counterterrorism portfolio. This included policy oversight of all special operations worldwide, and formulation of the department's global counterterrorism strategy. He received his appointment in July 2007.
A former U.S. Army Special Operations officer, he earned his PhD at Harvard University, and his Combat Infantryman Badge in the Salvadoran Civil War. His unit assignments included the 82d Airborne Division, the 2d Ranger Battalion, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and the 2d Infantry Division, among others. He was also an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He served as an analyst and strategist in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as an expert member of the Baker-Hamilton Bipartisan Commission on Iraq, a.k.a. the Iraq Study Group. For his service in Iraq and the Pentagon, he has been awarded the Department of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal, the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.
Best Practices in Counterinsurgency, Military Review, May–June 2005, pp.8–12.
Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations in Afghanistan, with R. Kiper, J. Schroder, C. Briscoe (Fort Leavenworth: CGSC Press, 2004)
Case Study: The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal (RAND, 2003)
The Renaissance Force, with Brig. Gen. R.W. Potter, Jr., chapter in Leadership: The Warrior's Art (Carlisle: Army War College Foundation Press, 2001)
Review essay, Dana Priest’s The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America's Military, in USNI Proceedings (September 2003)
Die atomare Vision. Der Einfluß von Nuklearwaffen auf die Führung der US Army 1952 bis 1958, chapter in Fuehrungsdenken in europaeischen und nordamerikanischen Steitkraeften im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, trans. Gerhard Gross (Berlin: MGFA, 2001). Based on paper presented at 42d Annual International Military History Conference, Hamburg, Germany, 12 July 2000
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001-2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced that airstrikes targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had begun in Afghanistan. Operation Enduring Freedom primarily refers to the War in Afghanistan, but it was also affiliated with counterterrorism operations in other countries, such as OEF-Philippines and OEF-Trans Sahara.
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California.
The Afghanistan Campaign Medal (ACM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of President George W. Bush on November 29, 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. The medal was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry.
The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. The medal was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry and was awarded during the Iraq War, from 19 March 2003 to 31 December 2011.
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) is a United States Armed Forces award created by George W. Bush on 12 March 2003, through Executive Order 13289. The medal recognizes those military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror from 11 September 2001 to a date to be determined. Prior to 30 April 2005, the medal was awarded for service within Iraq and Afghanistan, but has been replaced with the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal and now serves primarily as recognition for personnel who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. In a similar fashion the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal is now issued instead for service in the fight against ISIS, with eligibility retroactive to 15 June 2014.
The United States under secretary of defense for policy (USDP) is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The under secretary of defense for policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense for all matters concerning the formation of national security and defense policy.
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is an author, commentator and media military analyst. He is a retired United States Air Force intelligence officer with experience in the Middle East, including tours of duty with the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. He was under contract to NBC News and appeared regularly on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC, as well as Radio Canada and other media. In 2013, he became a military analyst with CNN.
John Scott Redd is a retired vice admiral of the United States Navy, and afterward the first Senate-confirmed Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, serving from 2005 until 2007. According to David Martin at the CBS Evening News, "Scott Redd may be the most important person you've never heard of." J.J. Green at Federal News Radio referred to Redd as "the man that I often call "E.F. Hutton". He is also the past President of the Naval Academy Class of 1966 and has served on the advisory boards of several non-profit organizations. An avid amateur radio operator, Redd has won twelve world championships and nine national championships.
David John Kilcullen FRGS is an Australian author, strategist, and counterinsurgency expert who is currently the non-executive chairman of Caerus Associates, a strategy and design consulting firm that he founded. He is a professor at Arizona State University and at University of New South Wales, Canberra.
Dan Grant was the Deputy Assistant to the Administrator for Pakistan in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at USAID. He oversaw a portfolio concerning energy, stabilization, education, agriculture, and public health.
Michael George Vickers is an American defense official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD-I). As USD-I, Vickers, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, was the Defense Department's top civilian military intelligence official. Before becoming USD-I, Vickers served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.
Michael D. Lumpkin is a former American Naval Officer and businessman who served as the Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center at the U.S. Department of State until January 2017. From 2013 until 2016, he was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. During that time, he also served as the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the third-highest civilian job at the United States Department of Defense.
David A. Morris is an American major general (retired) who is the founder and owner of Decisive Edge, LLC, a consulting firm focused on the development of business strategies for the Special Operations and intelligence communities.
John Rutherford Allen is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general, and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A). On September 13, 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Allen as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was succeeded in that role by Brett McGurk on October 23, 2015. He is the co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence with Darrell M. West and Future War and the Defence of Europe alongside Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges and Professor Julian Lindley French. Allen was president of the Brookings Institution from October 2017 until his resignation on June 12, 2022; he had been placed on administrative leave four days earlier after public reports he was under investigation by the FBI for lobbying on behalf of Qatar.
David William Barno is a retired lieutenant general of the United States Army. He was commander of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan from 2003–2005.
Mark Edward Mitchell was the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict of the United States Department of Defense for several months during 2019. A retired colonel, Mitchell was the first member of the United States Army to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the War in Afghanistan and was the first to receive the award since the Vietnam War. He received the award in 2003 for his actions during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, which took place in late November to early December 2001.
Jeffrey Howard Norwitz is an American expert in counter-terrorism and law enforcement. Norwitz spent 38 years as a law enforcement officer, the last 25 years of which were spent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. From 2006 through 2009 he held the John Nicholas Brown Chair of Counterterrorism at the Naval War College. Norwitz is known for his publications on counter-terrorism, and for frequently being consulted as a "terrorism expert". Norwitz is also the author of several books on counter-terrorism.
The United States Special Operations Command is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense and is the only unified combatant command created by an Act of Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Michael Patrick Mulroy is the former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for the Middle East, serving under Secretary James N. Mattis and Secretary Mark T. Esper. He was responsible for representing the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for defense policy and for Middle East policy in the interagency. He is also a retired CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer and a United States Marine.
Christopher Charles Miller is an American retired United States Army Special Forces colonel who served as acting United States secretary of defense from November 9, 2020, to January 20, 2021. He previously served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center from August 10 to November 9, 2020. Before his civilian service in the Department of Defense, Miller was a Green Beret, commanding 5th Special Forces Group in Iraq and Afghanistan, and later spent time as a defense contractor.
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