Colonel Ché Bolden, United States Marine Corps
Colonel Ché Bolden is a career Marine officer. Designated a naval flight officer in 1996, he has accumulated over 2,000 flight hours in multiple aircraft and weapons systems. Most recently, Lieutenant Colonel Bolden commanded Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron Two. His professional experiences cover a wide range of military operations, including combat aviation, special reconnaissance, combined arms, international relations, and unmanned aviation. Over the course of his more than 22 years in service, he has supported numerous training exercises throughout the United States and Asia, as well as combat operations over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan, where he conducted close air support, forward air control (airborne) and tactical airborne coordination (airborne) in support of U.S. and coalition ground combat forces. His operational experience includes tours as squadron commander, weapons and tactics instructor, operations officer, and air officer. Bolden’s joint experience includes a tour in the European Command Plans branch as operations officer and bilateral exercise coordinator for the Office of Defense Cooperation, Madrid.
A Western Europe foreign area officer, Bolden is a 1993 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in history. He holds a Master of Arts in international affairs and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Master of Arts in strategic studies from The Marine Corps War College at Marine Corps University.
Commander Garrett I. Campbell, United States Navy
Commander Garrett I. Campbell is a career naval flight officer, accumulating over 2,300 hours in the E-2C Hawkeye. Over the last 20 years, he has served on a carrier air wing staff and has flown with four E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning/command and control squadrons, to include a tour as an operational squadron commanding officer. He has deployed with four carrier strike groups in support of Operations Southern Watch, Joint Forge, New Dawn (formerly Iraqi Freedom), and Enduring Freedom, and deployed for two counternarcotics detachments.
In his joint assignment, Campbell was assigned to Special Operations Command Joint Forces Command. He served as the liaison officer to Special Operations Command Pacific, Korea, and Joint Special Operations Task Force—Philippines for Joint Special Operations Task Force Global War on Terrorism exercise development, training, and the collection and distribution of operational best practices. In this function he also supported United States Pacific Command training efforts with the governments of Cambodia and Bangladesh. His most recent tour was as the deputy executive assistant to the chief of naval personnel/deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel, training, and education.
Campbell graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in history. He also holds a master’s in national security affairs and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College and is a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College.
Colonel Barry F. Huggins, United States Army
Colonel Barry F. Huggins is an infantry officer with over 30 years of active service. He most recently served as executive officer to the commander of the United States Africa Command, where he advised on a wide range of operational, policy, and legislative issues related to national security in Africa. Prior to that, Huggins served in a variety of infantry and special operations assignments. He commanded infantry units in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where he gained operational experience working with the U.S. interagency and with partner nation military forces and government leaders in the areas of building partner capacity, security sector reform, and governance.
Colonel Huggins is a graduate of North Carolina State University. He holds master’s degrees in Russian studies from Harvard University and in national resource strategy from the National Defense University.
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher A. MacAulay, United States Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher MacAulay has served over 17 years in the United States Air Force in a variety of operational and staff assignments. He most recently served on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. In this position, he was a principal advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, developing policy and strategy within the Middle East Deputy Directorate, with an emphasis in the Israel, broader Levant, and Iran portfolios. MacAulay commanded a combined C-130 and EC-130 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron in the Central Command area of operations. He has also led maintenance operations for numerous other aircraft including the KC-10, C-5, C-17, C-9, and E-3 AWACS. He is a combat veteran of Operations Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn (formerly Iraqi Freedom).
MacAulay is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering. He also holds a Master of Science in organizational leadership from Norwich University, a Master of Science in military operational art and science from the Air Command and Staff College, and a Master of Science in the philosophy of military strategy from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.
David Mastro, Ph.D., Office of the Director of National Intelligence/National Counterterrorism Center
David Mastro is a senior analyst in the National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC) Directorate of Intelligence and since 2010 has served as one of NCTC’s subject matter experts on terrorism in east and southern Africa. Prior to joining NCTC, Mastro worked as an intelligence analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York City where he provided analytical support to international terrorism investigations and operations.
Mastro holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Scranton, a Master of Arts in political science from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from West Virginia University. His doctoral dissertation empirically analyzed the set of core beliefs the United States Intelligence Community holds about foreign affairs and global issues among state and non-state actors.
Captain Frances M. Messalle, United States Coast Guard
Captain Frances M. Messalle has served over 21 years in the United States Coast Guard. She is a Coast Guard aviator with more than 4,000 flight hours and has been designated as an aircraft command or instructor pilot in four different Coast Guard aircraft. She relinquished command of Coast Guard Air Station Washington in June 2015, which is responsible for the worldwide air transportation of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and Commandant of the Coast Guard. Prior to command, Messalle served as the operations officer and airport manager of Air Station Elizabeth City in North Carolina and was in charge of five Super Hercules C-130Js and five HH-60 helicopters, which executed the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions in an operating area that spanned from St. John’s Newfoundland to South America.
Messalle holds a Bachelor of Science in marine science from the United States Coast Guard Academy and Master of Business Administration in aviation from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. She is a senior fellow with Partnership for Public Service Excellence in Government and was the recipient of the 2012 meritorious service military award from Federally Employed Women.
Anthony Schinella, United States Government
Tony Schinella has had a lengthy United States government career with diverse experience. His specialized expertise is conflict and post-conflict states, with considerable time spent working on the Balkans, Middle East, and South Asia. His more than 20 years of service include postings in Europe and the Middle East as well as an advisory position at the United States Pacific Command. He has helped provide support to U.S. military operations in the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He also has supported the White House and other senior U.S. policymakers with both written documents and spoken presentations.
Schinella is a native of northern New Jersey. He holds two undergraduate Bachelor of Science degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree from Harvard University. He has received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award, and his personal military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal and NATO Medal (Bosnia). He was inducted into the Senior Foreign Service in March 2012.
Colonel Hiroyuki Sugai, Japan Air Self Defense Force
Colonel Hiroyuki Sugai is a maintenance officer in the Japan Air Self Defense Force with over 19 years of service. He is a skilled and experienced logistics officer, especially in the field of maintenance, acquisition, and research and development. Recently, he served as supervisor of the Defense Policies and Program Division’s Air Staff Office in the Japanese Ministry of Defense where he participated in defense reorganization programs, such as the establishment of the new Japanese acquisition agency.
In 1996, Sugai was assigned as a maintenance flight commander of the 3rd Air Wing at Misawa Air Force Base. He was later assigned to the logistics planning section of the Air Material Command and the Air Staff Office in Tokyo. In 2009, he served as a staff member of the Defense Policies and Program Division’s Air Staff Office, where he organized changes to the structure of the Japan Air Self Defense Force. From 2012 to 2013, he served as maintenance squadron commander of the 8th Air Wing at Tsuiki Air Force Base where he oversaw maintenance of F-15 and F-2 fighter jets.
Sugai graduated from the National Defense Academy with a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering.