Board of Directors Candidates
Mr. Thomas Furlong
As Vice President of Infrastructure Data Centers at Facebook, Thomas Furlong has been responsible for the creation and execution of the strategy to develop and operate mission-critical assets that support the company’s computing and networking infrastructure.
Prior to joining Facebook in 2007, Mr. Furlong had 15 years’ experience in the execution of large capital projects, serving in client, consultant, or contractor capacities with various companies, including Bechtel Corporation, Sprint PCS, Coopers & Lybrand Consulting, and Yahoo! Inc.
Mr. Furlong served five years on active duty in the Navy as fire control officer and main propulsion assistant on board the USS England (CG-22), completing multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf region.
He holds a bachelor of science in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master of business administration in finance from the University of San Francisco.
The Honorable Kathleen H. Hicks, PhD
Kathleen Hicks is senior vice president, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In her role at CSIS, she leads the Maritime Security Dialogue series, in partnership with the U.S. Naval Institute. Dr. Hicks served in the Obama administration as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, where she led development of the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.
Dr. Hicks is concurrently the Donald Marron Scholar at the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She serves on the Board of the Aerospace Corporation and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She also served on the Commission on the National Defense Strategy and the National Commission on the Future of the Army.
Dr. Hicks holds a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master of public administration from the University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College.
Mr. Mel Immergut
Mel Immergut is the former chairman of the international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, having served in that role for 18 years and at the firm for 42 years. He currently is a senior advisor to Paris-based private equity firm Wendel, Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm Team8, and Palo Alto-based venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors. He also serves on various boards, including ISTARI, the cybersecurity firm of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
Mr. Immergut is vice chairman of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum and a member of the U.S. Southern Command Advisory Panel. He is an adjunct senior research scholar for national security at Columbia Law School. Mr. Immergut is a former member of the Defense Business Board of the Department of Defense and of the European Command Advisory Panel. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a recipient of the Exceptional Public Service Award of the Secretary of Defense.
LtGen Robert S. Walsh, USMC (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Walsh retired from the Marine Corps after 39 years of service on 1 October 2018 as Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration and Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
A 1979 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Lieutenant General Walsh served as an F/A-18 pilot at all levels, including commanding Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 and Marine Aircraft Group 31. He was an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TopGun).
As a general officer, his staff assignments focused on designing and building the future Navy and Marine Corps as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Assistant Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, and Director of Expeditionary Warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. His operational assignments included serving as Commanding General, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) Iraq, and Director of Operations, U.S. Northern Command.
The Honorable Robert O. Work, Col, USMC (Ret.)
Colonel Robert Work was the 31st Deputy Secretary of Defense, serving under three different Secretaries across two administrations. Previously, he served as chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Under Secretary of the Navy.
Colonel Work served on active duty in the Marine Corps for 27 years, retiring in 2001. In 2002, he joined the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where he wrote and spoke extensively on maritime affairs. He also was an adjunct professor at the George Washington University.
Colonel Work holds a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Illinois; a master of science in systems management from the University of Southern California; a master of science in space system operations from the Naval Postgraduate School; and a master in international public policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Editorial Board Candidates
CAPT James Caroland, USN
Captain James Caroland is the Cyber Science Department chair and senior cryptologic warfare officer at the U.S. Naval Academy. Previous assignments over his 26 years include the USS Denver (LPD-9), cryptologic resource coordinator on board the USS Tarawa (LHA-1), electronic warfare officer on board the USS Decatur (DDG-73), cyber defense officer at Naval Network Warfare Command, commander’s action group and cyber policy chief at U.S. Cyber Command, two tours at the National Security Agency as red team branch chief and deputy chief of computer network operations solutions, two tours at U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. Tenth Fleet as future operations director and director, joint force headquarters–cyber, and a special assignment in the intelligence community executing interagency cyber operations and technology development. He also has taught cybersecurity as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus since 2005.
Captain Caroland holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Duke University, master’s degrees in IT management from the Naval Postgraduate School and national security strategy (cyber) from the National War College, and several cyber-related professional certifications.
SgtMaj Anthony J. Easton, USMC
Sergeant Major Anthony Easton enlisted in July 1994 and earned the military occupation skill of combat engineer. He currently is assigned to Training and Education Command, Quantico, Virginia.
His tours include 2d Combat Engineer Battalion, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, with deployments to Cuba (Operation Sea Signal), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Operation Decisive Endeavor), and the 26th MEU (Operations Allied Force, Shining Hope, Joint Guardian, and Avid Response); 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Camp Pendleton, California, deploying to Iraq in 2004 and 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; 3rd Battalion 9th Marines, Camp Lejeune, deploying to Iraq again and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Sergeant Major Easton also spent time as a canvasing recruiter and staff noncommissioned officer in charge of Recruiting Sub-Station Fargo, North Dakota, while assigned to Recruiting Station Twin Cities, Minnesota. He was also assigned to inspector–instructor duty in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a graduate of the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy.
LCDR Michelle Foster, USCG
Lieutenant Commander Michelle Foster graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2007 and developed broad experience as a response officer. She served two years as a deck watch officer and boarding officer on a 270-foot cutter; directed search and rescue in Virginia and North Carolina for three years; and oversaw program response for two 87-foot cutters, aids-to-navigation boats, and surf stations in California while also acting as command center chief.
From 2015 to 2018, she was commanding officer of Station Cape May, District Five’s largest station with two seasonal station smalls—Fortesque and Townsend’s Inlet. She is qualified on six boat asset types, as well as coxswain of the jet-drive 45-foot response boat medium.
At District 13, Lieutenant Commander Foster oversees small boat/station operations and pollution response across Washington and Oregon, and she currently is adding air operations oversight duties for three air stations. She holds a master’s degree in national security studies and is working through JPME Phase I as well as attending pollution-control courses.
LT Andrea Howard, USN
Lieutenant Andrea Howard, one of the first
one hundred women in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine force, currently serves as an officer on board the USS Ohio (SSGN-726) in Bangor, Washington. Following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy 2015, she was selected
as a Marshall Scholar, earning a master of
science in global governance and diplomacy (with distinction) from the University of
Oxford and a master’s degree in science
and security (with distinction) from King’s College London.
Named among the Atlantic Council’s 25 LGBTI Next Generation Leaders to Watch, Lieutenant Howard is a trustee in the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Pacific Northwest Chapter, a Defense Council member in the Seattle Chapter of the Truman National Security Project, a host for CIMSEC’s Sea Control podcast, and a recurring author for War on the Rocks and the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings, where she won the 2019 Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Essay Contest.
CAPT Scott Smith, USN
Captain Scott Smith is chairman of the Joint Military Operations Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Previously, he was commissioning commanding officer of the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001). He has deployed from both the East and West Coasts on board the USS Donald B. Beary (FF-1085), Cole (DDG-67), Stethem (DDG-63), and Ramage (DDG-61) and as embarked staff on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and Boxer (LHD-4). He commanded the USS Klakring (FFG-42) through two independent deployments to the Mediterranean, North, and Black Seas and, nine months later, circumnavigated South America as part of UNITAS. Crews from these ships earned the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy and Meritorious Unit Commendations, and multiple Battle E awards.
LtCol William Steinke, USMC
Lieutenant Colonel William Steinke is a strategic analyst for the Commandant’s Action Group. An EA-6B electronic countermeasures officer, he deployed to Iraq in 2006 and 2008, Afghanistan in 2009, and Qatar in 2014 supporting combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. His qualifications include weapons and tactics instructor, joint terminal attack controller, operations and tactics instructor, Marine air-ground task force planner, and basic information operations planner. He served as the operations officer for Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, and operations officer for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4. He is a graduate of the School of Advanced Warfighting and a DARPA Service Chiefs’ Fellow.
CDR Brendan Stickles, USN
Commander Brendan Stickles was commissioned in 1999 and designated a naval aviator in November 2001. He currently is special advisor for defense, Office of the Vice President. Previously, he was commanding officer of the Battle E–winning EA-18G electronic attack squadron VAQ-130, after having served as a squadron department head. He served his junior officer tour flying Prowlers with VAQ-136 in Atsugi, Japan, where he was awarded an Air Medal with Combat “V” during Operation Iraqi Freedom and received the CDR Noel Greene Leadership Award. He served two tours as an instructor pilot flying Super Hornets with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 and Growlers with VAQ-129. He was the first EA-18G carrier qualification phase head and qualified the first 32 EA-18G pilots with 100 percent qualification rate. He has flown more than 3,500 flight hours and logged more than 500 carrier arrested landings in EA-6B, F/A-18E/F, and EA-18G aircraft.
Commander Stickles holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the U.S. Naval Academy and master’s degrees in business administration from the University of North Carolina and in public administration from Harvard University.
CAPT Joshua Taylor, USN
Captain Joshua Taylor was designated a naval flight officer in 1999 and is now a foreign area officer. He currently is U.S. Pacific Fleet head of International Plans and Policy and previously served as a Navy Federal Executive Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute.
His operational tours include deployments in support of Operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom with Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 128, the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), and VAQ-131. Other assignments include U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur as Deputy Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation Malaysia, where he had primary responsibility for foreign military sales and Building Partner Capacity programs; legislative affairs officer at U.S. Pacific Command; and executive assistant to the director, Maritime Headquarters, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Captain Taylor holds a bachelor’s of science in history from the U.S. Naval Academy and certifications from the Naval War College, Joint Forces Staff College, and Naval Postgraduate School. He earned master’s degrees in organizational management from the George Washington University and diplomacy and military studies from Hawaii Pacific University.
LCDR Eric Zilberman, USN
Lieutenant Commander Eric Zilberman received his wings in 2008 and completed flight training in the F/A-18 A-D Hornet at Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106. He currently is serving at the Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office as the class desk officer. From 2009 to 2012, he flew with VFA-34 based out of Virginia Beach, completing two combat deployments and flying 40 combat missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. He was selected to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, after which he served as experimental test pilot/project officer at Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23. Returning to Virginia Beach to join VFA-37, he completed his department head tour and third combat deployment, flying 19 combat missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Lieutenant Commander Zilberman has more than 2,000 military and civilian flight hours in 28 different aircraft types. He holds a bachelor of science degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s of science in systems technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.
