Scott Cooper served 20 years in the Marine Corps, serving as a Naval Flight Officer in the EA-6B aircraft and as a forward air controller. He deployed five times to Iraq, twice to Afghanistan, and once to the Far East, concluding his career commanding a squadron and serving as the speechwriter to the head of Marine Corps aviation.
After retirement, Scott joined Human Rights First, leading their national security work. Much of that effort focused on refugees, specifically the Special Immigrant Visa program that helps our wartime allies in Iraq and Afghanistan to find safety in America. He also founded Veterans for American Ideals, a grass-roots, community-based group of veterans working to bridge divides and regain a shared sense of national community.
Today he is the Vice President of Government Relations at Peraton, a national security and technology company. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. Scott holds a B.S. in political science from the U.S. Naval Academy, and an M.A. in international relations from the University of Maryland. He and his wife, Maggie, split their time between Washington, DC, and Rixeyville, VA.