I am an America in the World Consortium Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University’s Program in American Grand Strategy. Prior to this, I was a Faculty Associate for Research and a Donald R. Beall Defense Fellow in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

My research seeks to bridge academic inquiry and operational experience to generate scholarship that informs U.S. foreign policy and addresses real-world national security challenges. In particular, I examine how special operations, intelligence, and international assistance can be leveraged to address contemporary security threats. This includes work on the evolving role of Special Operations Forces in strategic competition, the integration of intelligence into complex operational environments, and the design of aid strategies that support conflict resolution and political stability. Across these areas, I aim to generate insights that are both theoretically grounded and operationally relevant.

Before entering academia, I spent over a decade in the U.S. national security community, including service as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army and as a Senior Intelligence Officer with the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy. My overseas assignments spanned Iraq, Afghanistan, East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Central Asia, where I supported special mission units and interagency teams conducting counterterrorism, counterproliferation, and hostage rescue operations.

I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. I also hold an M.I.A. from the University of California San Diego, an M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University, and B.A. degrees from American Military University and Indiana University.

My recent work appears in the International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism, the Minnesota Journal of International Law, and The Hill.