Lieutenant General John Mulholland - United States Army

Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland Jr. assumed command of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in 2008. Prior to commanding USASOC, he was commanding general of Special Operations Command Central at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. He commenced his career with a BA in history from Furman University, Greenville, S. C., in 1978. His first post was with the 193rd Infantry Brigade in the former Panama Canal Zone where he served as a rifle platoon leader, weapons platoon leader and company executive officer. He attended the Special Forces Qualification Course and joined the 5th Special Forces Group (ABN), Project B-500. Since joining Special Forces, Lt. Gen. Mulholland has commanded at the ODA, Company, Battalion/Squadron and Group levels within Special Forces. Additionally, he served in other special operations assignments including Special Operations Command South (Panama) as well as the operations officer at 1st SFOD-D (ABN). Then-Colonel Mulholland commanded Joint Special Operations Task Force-North (TF Dagger) in the opening days of Operation Enduring Freedom and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-West (TF Dagger) in the initial campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He subsequently served as the Chief, Office of Military Cooperation-Kuwait, as Commanding General, United States Special Forces Command (ABN) and as Deputy Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command. Lt. Gen. Mulholland earned a MMAS (History) while attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College. His military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.

Associate Professor Dr. Joseph Chinyong Liow - Nanyang Technological University

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Professor and Associate Dean at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include Muslim politics in Southeast Asia, insurgencies in Thailand and the Philippines, and international politics in the Asia-Pacific region. Joseph has published extensively on these topics, and is author and editor of 11 books including a recent major monograph on the insurgency in southern Thailand based on extensive field research. His writings have also appeared in international journals including Foreign Affairs (online), Asia Policy, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Journal of Islamic Studies, and Modern Asian Studies. Joseph has consulted for several major MNC's (including BHP Billiton, Chevron, and Shell), government ministries and security agencies both in Singapore and abroad, as well as security-related organizations such as Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism Database . He sits on the editorial boards of South East Asia Research and Journal of International and Global Studies, and has held visiting fellowships with the East-West Center Washington, Shorenstein Center (Stanford University), and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore).

Clive Williams MG - Australian National University

Clive Williams MG, Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), The Australian National University & Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism (PICT) at Macquarie University - Research interests include politically motivated violence and terrorism.

Major General R G Nadkarni, VSM (Ret' d)

MAJGEN R G Nadkarni, VSM (Ret' d) served for 38 years in the Indian Army as an infantry officer both on the General Staff and in Field Command. In the latter role he commanded an Infantry Company during the Indo Pakistan War of 1971, two infantry battalions and an Armoured Brigade. He was the GOC for 12 Infantry Division commanding 20,000 men including an artillery brigade from 1999-2000. In the subsequent appointment, he was the GOC Victor Force, a specialized counter terrorism force in the Kashmir Valley. For this period of service he was awarded the Vishist Seva Medal the DSM). He trained and commanded 20,000 men conducting counter terrorism operations in Kashmir.His last appointment was as the Chief Instructor (Army) to the Defence Staff College - the Indian equivalent of being the Commander of the ADC. Since retirement he has become an Australian citizen and has assisted the Australian Army and defence agencies including the CDSS as a guest lecturer where his specialist knowledge of the recent history of Sri Lanka and the COIN campaign fought there has proved most useful.

Colonel Alexander Alderson - British Army

Colonel Alex Alderson set up the Land Forces Stability Operations and Counterinsurgency Centre in 2009 and is now its Director. He was the principal author for the British Army’s Counterinsurgency Doctrine, published in November 2009, and his operational experience includes Iraq, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and the 1991 Gulf War. He holds a PhD in Modern History, and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, and the War Studies Department, King’s College London. He has presented and published widely on Counterinsurgency and Stability Operations. He was appointed MBE in 1999 for his work in Bosnia.

Dr David Matthews

Dr Matthews leads the COIN Studies Team within the Defence Science & Technology Organisation (where he is responsible for the provision of research and analysis in support of campaign design and campaign assessment for JTF commanders and HQJOC.  Previously David led the Stabilisation research programme at the UK’s Development Concept and Doctrine Centre He supported the training of MOD forces and agencies deploying to Afghanistan, co-authored Britain’s joint operational doctrine on Stabilisation (JDP 3-40) and was the lead researcher for a NATO study on monitoring progress in Afghanistan, involving 11 partner nations. David has advised both governments and intergovernmental organisations on the politics of conflict and post-conflict state-building.

Associate Professor Dr David Martin Jones

(University of Queensland)

David Martin Jones is Associate Professor in the School of Political Science and International Studies University of Queensland and Visiting Professor in the Department of South East Asian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He graduated with a doctorate in political thought from the London School of Economics and has taught at universities in London, Canada, Singapore and Australia. He has written on the evolution of terrorism and counter terrorism in South East Asia as well as the theory and practice of insurgency and counter insurgency. His work in this area has appeared in a variety of journals like International Affairs, Orbis, The National Interest, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism , Terrorism and Political Violence and The Journal of Strategic Studies. He has published two edited collections on New Terror The Asia Pacific Dimension (Edward Elgar 2003) and Terrorism The power of informal networks (Edward Elgar 2010).

Major General (Retd) Michael G. Smith AO – Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence

Michael (Mike) Smith is the founding Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence, established by the Australian Government in 2008. From 2002-2008 he was CEO of Austcare (now Action Aid Australia), following 34 years service as an Army Officer in the Australian Defence Force. Mike is actively engaged in international forum on issues relating to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; peacekeeping, peacebuilding and complex peace operations; and the protection of civilians.

Dr Bruce Oswald, CSC (University of Melbourne)

Bruce “Ossie” Oswald is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne. As an Army legal officer he has seen operational service in Rwanda, the Former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has provided legal advice and held staff appointments at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. He has provided legal advice to the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, Headquarters Australian Theatre, Strategic Command and Directorate of Operations and International Law. For his service in Rwanda, he was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC). In 1997 he worked with the Red Cross in the Former Yugoslavia. He now serves in the Army Reserves. In recent years in Afghanistan he has been
dealing with legal matters arising from counterinsurgency and stabilisation operations. His interests are international humanitarian law, peace operations, state building, accountability and responsibility, and the application of human rights law to military operations.

Dr Michael Evans (Fellow, Australian Defence College)

Dr Michael Evans is the ADC Fellow and is currently responsible for counterinsurgency courses at the Australian Defence College. He is a former Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He saw military service in Africa as a member of the Rhodesian security forces and was later a regular officer in the post-civil war Zimbabwe National Army and worked with the British Army in the integration of two rival guerrilla armies into a conventional land force. Dr Evans is a Member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and is extensively published both in Australia and overseas and, most recently, was the lead author of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Doctrine 3-0-1, Counterinsurgency (December 2009).

Professor William Rosenau

WILLIAM ROSENAU, Ph.D. is a senior research analyst in the Stability and Development Program, Strategic Studies Division, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), Alexandria, VA.  He is also an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Before joining CNA, he served in the RAND Corporation’s International Security Policy department, and as chair of RAND’s Insurgency Board; as a policy adviser to the coordinator for counter terrorism, US Department of State; and as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. His publications include Police Mentoring in Afghanistan, 2007-2009 (CNA, 2010);  The Radicalization of Diaspora's and Terrorism (ed., with Doron Zimmermann, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich, 2009); (with Peter Chalk, et al.) Corporations and Counterinsurgency (RAND, 2009); (with Peter Chalk and Angel Rabasa) The Evolving Dynamic of Terrorism in Southeast Asia: A Net Assessment (RAND, 2009); The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counterinsurgency (RAND, 2009).

Celeste Ward Gventer - RAND Corporation

Celeste Ward Gventer was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Capabilities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, providing policy advice regarding effective stabilization and reconstruction and counterinsurgency operations. She also served two tours in Iraq, with the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003-2004 and as politico-military advisor to the Multi-National Corps–Iraq Commander for all of 2006. She has also worked as a Special Assistant to the Counselor of the State Department, as a Strategist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as a Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and as a Defense Analyst at the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.

She received her Master of Public Policy degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Stanford University. She is the recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal, the U.S. Army Superior Civilian Service Award and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

Dr T. X. Hammes (Colonel, US Marine Corps Ret' d) (National Defense University, Washington DC)

In his thirty years in the Marine Corps, Dr Hammes served at all levels in the operating forces to include command of an infantry battalion and the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force. He participated in stabilization operations in Somalia and Iraq as well as training insurgents in various places. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, US Army Infantry Officers Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the Canadian National Defence College. He has a Masters in Historical Research and a Doctorate in Modern History from Oxford University. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. He is the author of The Sling and the Stone: On War in the Twenty-First Century and Forgotten Warriors: The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, the Corps Ethos, and the Korean War, chapters in eleven books and over 90 articles and opinion pieces in Washington Post, New York Times, Janes Defence Weekly, and professional journals. He has lectured widely at U.S. and International Staff and War Colleges.

General David Barno - US Army

General Barno, a highly decorated military officer with over 30 years of service, has served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States and around the world, to include command at every level. He served many of his early years in special operations forces with Army Ranger battalions, to include combat in both the Grenada and Panama invasions. In 2003, he was selected to establish a new three-star operational headquarters in Afghanistan and take command of the 20,000 U.S. and Coalition Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom. For 19 months in this position, he was responsible for the overall military leadership of this complex political-military mission, devising a highly innovative counterinsurgency strategy in close partnership with the U.S. embassy and coalition allies. His responsibilities included regional military efforts with neighboring nations and involved close coordination with the Government of Afghanistan, the United Nations, NATO International Security Assistance Force, the U.S. Department of State and USAID, and the senior military leaders of many surrounding nations and numerous allies.

From 2007 to 2009, General Barno served as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom Veterans and Families. He frequently serves as an expert consultant on counterinsurgency and irregular warfare, professional military education and the changing character of conflict, supporting a wide-range of government and other organizations. General Barno is widely published and has testified before Congress numerous times.

Benjamin Schreer – Australian National University

Dr Benjamin Schreer assumed the position of Senior Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies at the Australian National University in July 2010. Previously he was deputy director at the Aspen Institute Germany in Berlin. He also taught strategic studies at the University of Konstanz and was a research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, SWP) in Berlin.
He is also a Associate Fellow of the Program “NATO in a Changing World” at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo, Norway; and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.

His research interests include NATO, counterinsurgency, strategic theory, nuclear strategy and Australian defence policy.

Major General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad

Major General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad was commissioned into an Infantry Battalion in 1980. He graduated with an MSc (War Studies) from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad in 2002 and an MSc ( National Resource Strategy) from the US Industrial College of Armed Forces in Washington in 2006. During his career he served in various staff, instructional and command appointments. As a Major he was on the faculty of the School of Infantry and Tactics and later served as Brigade Major in an Infantry Brigade. As a Lieutenant Colonel he was a faculty member at the Pakistan Command and Staff College. He has commanded both an Infantry Battalion and an Infantry Brigade. He has been the one of the Directing Staff of the Staff War College, National Defence University and the Chief of Staff of a Corps. Since July 2009 he has been the General Officer Commanding an Infantry Division conducting counter insurgency operations in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan.

Professor William Maley - Australian National University

Professor William Maley is the Director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the ANU. He taught for many years in the School of Politics, University College, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, and has served as a Visiting Professor at the Russian Diplomatic Academy. He is an international authority on the politics of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Author of Rescuing Afghanistan (2006) and The Afghanistan wars (2002), and editor of Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban (1998).

Commodore Richard Menhinick – ADC

CDRE Menhinick has served at sea and ashore in a wide variety of postings including commanding officer of the the Anzac frigates HMAS WARRAMUNGA from 2000-2002 and HMAS ANZAC from 2003-2005. Recent shore appointments have included Director of the Sea Power Centre, Australia, Chief of Staff to the Vice Chief of the Defence Force/Commander Joint Operations, Director General Military Strategy in Strategic Policy Division and as the lead officer for the Chief of Navy in driving the initial phases of the Royal Australian Navy's New Generation Navy program focusing on changing the culture, leadership training and structure of Navy. He has recently completed a posting as Commander of the Combined Task Force 150 in the Middle East Area of Operations from December 2009 to April 2010 and was appointed as Commandant of the Australian Command and Staff College in May 2010.

Major General Mark Kelly, AO (Retd)

MAJGEN Mark Kelly, AO graduated from RMC in 1978. His first operational posting came in 1980, when he served with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force in Rhodesia during independence elections. From 1995 –1997 he was Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He then moved to the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters as the Chief of Staff, a posting that involved deploying the headquarters to East Timor where he served as the Chief of Staff for INTERFET. On promotion to Brigadier, he commanded 3rd Brigade between 2000 and 2002. He was then posted to SS Central Command in Tampa, Florida, serving as the first Director of the Combined Planning Group, planning operations in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. He was appointed an Officer of the United States Legion of Merit for his service in this position. On promotion to Major General in 2004 he assumed command of the 1st Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters. He then assumed the appointment of Land Commander Australia on in 2005. In his last appointment in 2009 he became Commander Joint Task Force 633, in which position he commanded Australian forces in the Middle East Area of Operations.