Linton Wells II

Last updated
Linton (Lin) Wells II
Linton Wells II in 2020.jpg
Wells in 2020
Born
StatusActive
Education U.S. Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins University
OccupationUS Naval Officer, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, Educator
Spouse(s)Linda
ChildrenLinton Wells III, Frank M. Wells
Parent(s) Linton Wells, Fay Gillis Wells

Linton Wells II (born 1946) is an American public servant and educator who served a total of 51 years in government service. He served 26 years in the United States Navy as an officer, and then was appointed by the President of the United States as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, serving through two administrations of both parties, both the Democrat Bill Clinton and the Republican George W. Bush. He wrote many books, articles, and white papers on matters of national security, including important texts related to the use of American military capabilities in global humanitarian operations. His expertise focused on the strategic impacts of technological change and on building resilience to natural and man-made disasters as issues of US national security. He shaped, over five decades of public service, current US Department of Defense directives that link policy and technology with public-private cooperation. His writings significantly altered U.S. and international approaches to civil-military engagement, US policy in global humanitarian assistance, and global public-private partnerships in disaster relief. [1] He has also made fundamental contributions to technical areas that have defined [2] network-enabled military capabilities and cyberspace operations. [3] After retiring from public service, he continued to contribute to the international STAR-TIDES network that he had founded in 2007, [4] a consortium of several thousand global nodes comprising agencies, organizations, institutions and individuals in 40+ countries that promote the free exchange of research results on global issues of human security. As of 2021 he is Executive Advisor to the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC) at George Mason University and chairs the Advisory Group of the C4I and Cyber Center there. C-RASC has been working with the People-Centered Internet [5] (PCI) on ways to “put humanity at the center of the Internet” and support a variety of revitalization initiatives. He is on the board of PCI, and also the President and CEO of Global Resilience Strategies and Senior Advisor to Resilient Japan. [6] He was listed by Fortune magazine in 2009 as one of the top 16 "Players of Tech". [2]

Contents

Career

Wells spent over 50 years in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), including 26 years uniformed service in the Navy where he retired as a Captain (O-6). While on active duty he served as Commanding Officer of the USS Joseph Strauss, DDG-16 and Commander of Destroyer Squadron 21. He subsequently served 14 years within the Senior Executive Service [7] in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). During his years in The Pentagon he was appointed by President Bush to be Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration) and DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO). [8] [9] After completing several appointments within the Pentagon, in 2007 he accepted an offer to become the Force Transformation Chair at National Defense University. He was additionally selected in 2010 to direct the NDU Center for Technology and National Security Policy and, later, to be Interim Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS).

His post-government work focused on the impact of rapidly changing technologies on U.S. national security policy, emphasizing the strategic importance of the accelerating and converging developments in Biotechnology, Robotics, Information technology, Nanotechnology and Energy ("BRINE"), a term coined by his colleague Frank Hoffman. He now is a Visiting Distinguished Research Fellow at INSS at NDU, and Executive Advisor to the C4I and Cyber Center in the Volgenau School of Engineering and to transdisciplinary Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC), both at the George Mason University (GMU). He is widely published on the national security implications of workforce issues, including:

He serves on several national and international advisory boards, [12] [13] and is the Managing Partner of Wells Analytics, LLC, and President of Global Resilience Strategies.

Biography

Early life and education

Wells was born in Luanda, Angola, the son of American foreign correspondent Linton Wells and pioneer aviator Fay Gillis Wells. [14] His education included:

In twenty-six years of commissioned service he served in a variety of ships as a Surface Warfare Officer. A full roster of his shipboard service includes:

Ashore he served in the Pentagon and on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations (OP 090R). During his career he acquired experience in operations analysis with particular expertise in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern affairs through the lens of Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) [17]

Civilian service in the Office of the Secretary of Defense

Wells served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1980 and from 1991 to 2007, with his final position being that of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration). He served as the Acting Assistant Secretary and DoD Chief Information Officer on two occasions, in 2001 and again in 2004–5. [8] He was a White House political appointee in both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

His other OSD positions included Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I) and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy Support) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy). He is the author of a well-known 2001 memo on the “unpredictable nature of great power relations” that has been cited by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. [18]

Throughout his time in government, Wells became known for his transformational contributions in four broad areas:

Civilian Awards

Military awards

Personal life

He married Linda Marie Motta in New Bedford, MA in 1976. They have two children: Linton Wells III and Frank Motta Wells. [28]

Publications

Wells has written widely on security studies in English and Japanese journals. He has also co-edited a series of books on international transformation and leader development. [29]

Books

He has published more than 30 monographs, book chapters and articles, many of which are available from the National Defense University website.

Related Research Articles

Richard Myers US Air Force general and university administrator

Richard Bowman Myers is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United States military forces. He also served as the 14th president of Kansas State University from 2016 to 2022.

United States National Security Council U.S. federal executive national security and intelligence forum

The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.

Center for Strategic and International Studies American think tank in Washington, D.C.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C.. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts policy studies and strategic analyses of political, economic and security issues throughout the world, with a specific focus on issues concerning international relations, trade, technology, finance, energy and geostrategy.

Michèle Flournoy American defense policy advisor

Michèle Angélique Flournoy is an American defense policy advisor and former government official. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy under President Bill Clinton and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President Barack Obama.

Ash Carter United States Secretary of Defense

Ashton Baldwin Carter is an American public policy professor who served as the 25th secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He is currently director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.

Andrew Goodpaster US Army general

Andrew Jackson Goodpaster was an American Army General. He served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), from July 1, 1969, and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command (CINCEUR) from May 5, 1969, until his retirement December 17, 1974. As such, he was the commander of all NATO (SACEUR) and United States (CINCEUR) military forces stationed in Europe and the surrounding regions.

Strong Angel

Strong Angel is an informal consortium of agencies and organizations that have together hosted a series of international disaster response demonstrations leveraging public-private collaboration within a complex disaster response scenario. Since 1999 the Strong Angel series has focused on field experimentation within very challenging environments, testing the use of cutting-edge techniques and technologies to facilitate more effective humanitarian response.

Linton Brooks

Linton Forrestall Brooks is an American government official who served as the Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security from 2002 to 2007.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, or USD(A&S), is the Principal Staff Assistant (PSA) and advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all matters relating to acquisition and sustainment in the Department of Defense. This includes the DoD Acquisition System; system design and development; production; logistics and distribution; installation maintenance, management, and resilience; military construction; procurement of goods and services; material readiness; maintenance; environment and energy resilience ; utilities; business management modernization; International Armaments Cooperation, Cooperative Acquisition and International Agreements, Promoting exportability of military components to allies and partners; nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs; and nuclear command, control, and communications.

Michael D. Lumpkin

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.

Joseph Bouchard

Joseph F. Bouchard is a former United States Navy captain who retired in 2003 after 27 years on active duty. He commanded the destroyer USS Oldendorf and Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base.

Richard Kugler

Richard L. Kugler is an American thinker and writer on U.S. national security policy and defense strategy.

Charles B. Curtis American lawyer

Charles B. Curtis is an American lawyer, currently senior advisor (nonresident) to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, vice chair of the United States Department of State's International Security Advisory Board, 2011 through 2017, former member of the National Academies Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group, and President Emeritus of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-profit organization working to reduce the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In addition to working in private practice for more than sixteen years, Curtis served as the last chairman of the Federal Power Commission and the first chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 1977 to 1981. In 1994 he was appointed and confirmed as undersecretary and then deputy secretary of the US Department of Energy. He has held positions on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jerry MacArthur Hultin

Jerry MacArthur Hultin was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 1997 to 2000. He was the president of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2005 until 2012. He is currently the Chairman of the Global Futures Group, which advises cities, states and countries on best practices in smart city development.

Francis X. Taylor Former USAF general and Homeland Security official

Francis Xavier Taylor was the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nominated by President Obama in 2014. In that role, he provided the Secretary, DHS senior leadership, the DHS components, and state, local, tribal and private sector partners with homeland security intelligence and information they need to keep the country safe, secure and resilient. DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis is a member of, and the Department’s liaison to, the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Ronald F. Lehman

Ambassador Ronald Frank Lehman II is currently Director of the Center for Global Security Research at the United States Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is also Chair of the Governing Board of International Science and Technology Center, an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Moscow and is a member of the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee.

Paul N. Stockton

Dr. Paul N. Stockton is the President of Paul N Stockton LLC, a strategic advisory firm in Santa Fe, NM. From 2009-2013, Dr. Stockton served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs, where he helped lead the Department's response to Hurricane Sandy. He was responsible for Defense Critical Infrastructure Protection, Western Hemisphere security policy, domestic crisis management, continuity of operations planning, and a range of other responsibilities. While Assistant Secretary, Dr. Stockton also served as Executive Director of the Council of Governors. After serving as Assistant Secretary, Dr. Stockton was the Managing Director of Sonecon LLC, an advisory firm in Washington, DC, from 2013-2020.

James Joseph Shinn is a technology entrepreneur, scholar, and former U.S. government official with a long history in public service and foreign affairs. He has appeared in broadcast and printed media discussing a range of topics including high technology and national security, electronic payments systems, and geopolitical relations in the Far East and South Asia. Notably, he has appeared on C-Span and other media outlets discussing the War in Afghanistan, and its possible outcomes, including a political settlement, civil war, or a Taliban victory.

Julia Nesheiwat American politician

Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.

References

  1. Charles Hauss, Security 2.0: Dealing with Global Wicked Problems, Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 111-113
  2. 1 2 "16 Portraits: The Players of Tech, Dr. Linton Wells II". Fortune magazine . 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  3. "Welcome to Dr. Linton Wells II: New Executive Advisor for C4I & Cyber Center," c4i.gmu.edu/2016/02/3604, accessed June 25, 2016
  4. "Dr. Linton Wells II, Founder, STAR-TIDES (Sharing to Accelerate Research—Transformative Innovation for Development and Emergency Support) project" . Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  5. "People-Centered Internet – Working for an Internet that works for People". peoplecentered.net.
  6. "Resilient Japan - Japan's Regional Charm". JapanGov.
  7. President names SES officials, December 2, 1993, accessed February 22, 2016
  8. 1 2 3 "Defense Department CIO Linton Wells II". Technology Solutions That Drive Government.
  9. "Defense Department CIO Linton Wells II: Part II". Technology Solutions That Drive Government.
  10. "Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, workshop "Complexity Lens," July 9–10, 2015, accessed February 19, 2016".
  11. "See, for example, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), "Toward a Smart Century: Global Partnerships for Innovative Learning and Leader Development" accessed February 20, 2016".
  12. "Welcome to Dr. Linton Wells : new Executive Advisor for C4I & Cyber Center". Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, Computing and Intelligence. February 8, 2016.
  13. "CCSS Board of Advisors". www.usna.edu.
  14. Lillian F. Brinnon and Howard J. Fried, Fay Gillis Wells: In the Air and on the Air, Albuquerque: The Woodfield Press, 2002, p. 140.
  15. "1964-1969". www.usna.edu.
  16. Who's Who in America, 1996, article on Linton Wells II, p. 4413
  17. "Dr. Linton Wells II". star-tides.net.
  18. Cited in Donald Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld's Rules, Harper Collins, 2013, Chapter 5
  19. "Carlos P. Romulo Foundation conference on Building Resilience in Metro Manila, March 25, 2015, accessed February 21, 2016" (PDF).
  20. Hauss, op.cit., pp. 111-113
  21. "2013 july august shipmate". Issuu.
  22. "The Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service | Johns Hopkins Alumni". alumni.jhu.edu.
  23. "Alumnus Achievement Award". The Browning School.
  24. "Page 323" (PDF).
  25. "IFOF, Honorees by Last Name, accessed February 22, 2016" (PDF).
  26. "Tau Beta Pi - Member Lookup". www.tbp.org.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Disaster Response | United States | IHS". -ihs-.
  28. Who's Who in America, 1996, article on Linton Wells II, p. 4413, op.cit.
  29. "National Defense University Press (NDU Press)". ndupress.ndu.edu.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Linton Wells II at Wikimedia Commons