U.S. Foreign Policy and the Ends, Ways, and Means of National Security Strategy – An Interview with LTG (Ret.) Frank Kearney
Video from The Council for Emerging National Security Affairs KC Dinner Series
The Council for Emerging National Security Affairs presents LTG Frank Kearney (ret.) as special guest, moderated by CENSA Board Member Bill Natter the evening of April 21, 2016.
Frank retired in 2012 from the United States Army after 351⁄2 years of service. His final active duty assignment was Deputy Director for Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counter- Terrorism Center in Washington DC. Frank serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for Team Red, White and Blue, a non-profit which helps reintegrate wounded warriors with their communities as well as on the advisory boards of a number of companies including Academy Securities, Proof Research, Teradact Solutions, Red Gate Group, Tiger Swan International, Westport Construction, Reperi and the Board of Directors for Charles Stark Draper Laboratories. Frank formerly served as a member of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC) to the Secretary of Defense, and served on the National Defense Panel for the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). Frank is a Distinguished Fellow at the Joint Special Operations University and a Senior Special Operations Fellow at the Center for Naval Analysis as well as a Senior Mentor for the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute.
Frank has served in operational and command assignments at every level with combat tours in Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Frank’s most recent assignments at the strategic and operationallevel focused on Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism. He planned and participated in the opening campaigns of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and commanded all Theater Special Operations forces in the middle-east including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operations Enduring Freeedom from March 2005 to June 2007. Frank also served as the Deputy Combatant Commander for United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from 2007-2010 and insured that the 62.000 operators of this command were properly trained and equipped for their globalspecial operation’s missions. Frank oversaw the SOCOM requirements process, the execution of a 9- billion-dollar budget and led the SOCOM QDR team. Frank also sat on the DOD Ballistic Missile DefenseReview Committee and the Deputy Secretary of Defense’s Advisory Working Group managing the Department’s annual budget approval and execution. Finally, Frank worked with 16-29 different cabinet level agencies in the U.S. government to plan and coordinate the whole of government efforts to achievethe goals of the Obama Administration’s Counter-Terrorism strategy. His team coordinated key implementation plans against terrorist groups and assessed the efforts to achieve stated goals as well as provided input to the Office of Management and Budget on funding priorities for the national counter- terrorism budget.
Scholarly Work/Publications/Awards
Various military awards, U.S. Army War College Strategy Research Project: The Impact of Leaders on Organizational Culture, A 75th Ranger Regiment Case Study. Frank has addressed many audiences on Special Operations organizational requirements and testified to the U.S. Senate Armed Service Committee on “Countering Violent Extremism”.
Education
MEd, Student Development, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS
BS, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
