Brigadier General (retired) Russell D. Howard is an American veteran

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

officer,

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

strategist A strategist is a person with responsibility for the formulation and implementation of a strategy. Strategy generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy ...

. Howard is adjunct professor and director of the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Military career

General Howard served as an "A" Team commander in the

7th Special Forces Group The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (7th SFG) (A) is an operational unit of the United States Army Special Forces activated on 20 May 1960. It was reorganized from the 77th Special Forces Group, which was also stationed at Fort Bragg, Nort ...

from 1970 to 1972. He left the active component and then served in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

from 1972 to 1980. During this period he served as an overseas manager, American International Underwriters,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

tour manager and

Canadian Pacific Airlines Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian ...

. He was recalled to active duty in 1980, and served initially in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

as an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

company commander. Subsequent assignments included classified project officer, U.S. Army 1st Special Operations Command, at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, and operations officer and company commander, 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Howard was head of the Department of Social Sciences and the founding director of the Combating

Terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

Center at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. His previous positions include deputy department head of the Department of Social Sciences, Army Chief of Staff Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and commander of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: * Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado ** Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States ** Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort L ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Other recent assignments include assistant to the special representative to the secretary general during

UNOSOM II The United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried o ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, deputy chief of staff for I Corps, and chief of staff and deputy commander for the Combined Joint Task Force,

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

/Haitian Advisory Group. Previously, Howard was commander of 3d Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He served as the Administrative Assistant to Admiral

Stansfield Turner Stansfield Turner (December 1, 1923 January 18, 2018) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as President of the Naval War College (1972–1974), commander of the United States Second Fleet (1974–1975), and Supreme Allied Command ...

and as a special assistant to the commander of

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida, Doral in Greater Miami, Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providi ...

. Howard was the founding director of the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at

The Fletcher School The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations. As of 2017, the student bo ...

, before leaving in September 2008. Presently, Howard is a senior fellow at Joint Special Operations University and an adjunct professor at The

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Established in 1955, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly the Monterey Institute of International Studies, located in Monterey, California, is a Postgraduate education, graduate institute and satellite ...

Books and publications

*Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Readings and Interpretations, (2003) Revised & Updated 2008, 3/e by Russell D. Howard, Reid L. Sawyer and Natasha Bajema *Defeating Terrorism: by Russell D. Howard, Reid L. Sawyer *Homeland Security and Terrorism (2005) Russell D. Howard, James Forest, Joanne Moore *Terrorism and

Weapons of Mass Destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

. Russell D. Howard and James J.F. Forest (Eds). With Natasha E. Bajema *Intelligence in Denied Areas: Russell D. Howard * Northeast Asia Regional Security and the United States Military: Context, Presence, and Roles By Susan F. Bryant, Russell D. Howard, Jay M. Parker, and Albert S. Wilner, INSS Occasional Paper 47, November 2002, USAF Institute for National Security Studies, USAF Academy, Colorado * The Chinese People's Liberation Army: "Short Arms and Slow Legs" by Russell D. Howard, INSS Occasional Paper 28, Regional Security Series, September 1999, USAF Institute for National Security Studies, USAF Academy,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

* Thinking Creatively in the War on Terrorism – Leveraging

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the Partnership for Peace Consortium. By Russell D. Howard

References

External links

Middlebury Institute of International Studies Faculty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Russell D. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Harvard University faculty Members of the United States Army Special Forces United States Army generals American non-fiction writers Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit American male non-fiction writers