Dr. Brian W. Cole serves as an Assistant Professor at the Eisenhower School, National Defense University, where he instructs courses in National Security Strategy and Policy, Military Strategy and Warfare, and modules on hypersonic and directed energy weapons’ defense industry. Alongside his role at the Eisenhower School, he holds an adjunct position at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, where he teaches Game Theory in International Politics.
Prior to these academic roles, Dr. Cole was a professor of military studies and the Director of the Joint Warfare Department at the Marine Corps War College.
Dr. Cole served as an AV-8B Harrier pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a Colonel after 30 years of active duty service. His tenure within the Marines involved various positions, including aviation weapons school instructor at MAWTS-1, adversary instructor pilot, establishing a UAS squadron, and Director of Marine Corps Aviation Support and Manpower in the Pentagon.
Dr. Cole earned a Ph.D. in International Studies from Old Dominion University. He holds a Physics degree with an Aerospace Engineering emphasis from the University of Colorado and Master’s degrees from the U.S. Naval War College, Norwich University, and Air University.
Dr. Cole’s non-teaching roles include serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair for Marine Corps University, participating on the Commandant of the Marine Corps Talent Management Executive Council, and being a founding member of the Marine Corps University Arctic Strategic Initiative. He has published several works on national security and strategic studies, participating in Arctic security symposiums as a panelist. He has been invited to present a paper in Norway discussing the implication of deploying hypersonic weapons in NATO’s high north area of operations. He and his wife have four adult children and live in Washington, DC.