Leadership.
Dr. Robert W. Redding
Colonel (Retired), US Army
Deputy Regional Advisor for NORAD/NORTHCOM/Homeland Defense
Dr. Robert W. Redding is a national security professional, scholar, and retired U.S. Army Colonel with more than three decades of leadership experience spanning armored cavalry, infantry, special operations, security cooperation, and irregular warfare. His career bridges operational command, diplomatic engagement, strategic planning, and academic scholarship across the United States, Europe, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Israel, and Asia. He speaks Slovenian and maintains deep expertise in homeland defense, security cooperation, national resistance, and irregular warfare strategy.
During his military service, Dr. Redding commanded armored cavalry, special forces, and infantry formations, culminating in command of a light infantry battalion of over 800 soldiers. His operational assignments include Civil Affairs Officer with 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during combat operations in Afghanistan; Liaison Officer to the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv; and Deputy Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he directed bilateral security cooperation and defense diplomacy programs. He also served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Chief of Staff for the Colorado Army National Guard, overseeing multi-million-dollar resources and statewide homeland defense missions.
Since retiring from active military service, Dr. Redding has continued to serve the national security community as a senior advisor supporting the Republic of Georgia’s Ministry of Defense, U.S. Space Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and other defense institutions. His work focuses on irregular warfare, national resistance strategy, security cooperation, space-domain integration, and whole-of-government resilience.
Since retiring from active military service, Dr. Redding has continued to serve the national security community as a senior advisor supporting the Republic of Georgia’s Ministry of Defense, U.S. Space Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and other defense institutions. His work focuses on irregular warfare, national resistance strategy, security cooperation, space-domain integration, and whole-of-government resilience.
Dr. Redding is also an accomplished academic and educator. He holds a Ph.D. in International Development from The University of Southern Mississippi, where his dissertation examined the use of geospatial technologies in disaster response following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He also holds a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College and advanced degrees in natural resources development and geography from Texas A&M University. As an adjunct professor at multiple institutions including American Public University, Liberty University, and Bellevue University, he has supervised more than 200 graduate theses in intelligence and national security studies.
His scholarship integrates operational experience with strategic theory. Dr. Redding has published extensively on irregular warfare, hybrid conflict, national resistance, civil-military operations, and strategic competition. Selected peer-reviewed and professional publications include:
- · “Slovenian Independence and the Resistance Operating Concept: A Comparative Analysis, ”PRISM: Journal of Complex Operations (2025).
- · “Art and Irregular Warfare: Aesthetic Resistance, Symbolic Power, and the Battles for Meaning, ”Small Wars Journal (2025).
- · “Chip War and the Battle for Technological Sovereignty: A Hybrid Warfare Perspective, ”Small Wars Journal (2025).
- · “Space, Missile Defense, and Irregular Warfare, ”Small Wars Journal (2023).
- · “War in the Falklands: Case Studies in British Special Operations, ”Special Operations Journal (2020, co-author).
- · “OSS Operations in Occupied Yugoslavia: Enduring Principles, ”Special Operations Journal (2020, co-author).
- · “Denying Terrorists Sanctuary through Civil-Military Operations,” in Countering Terrorism in the 21st Century and Essentials of Counterterrorism (book chapters).
- · “19th Special Forces Group Utilizes Military Civic-Action Missions to Train Afghan National Army Battalions, ”Special Warfare.
His work explores the intersection of resistance movements, hybrid threats, societal resilience, technological competition, and the evolving character of warfare. He frequently presents at national and international conferences on irregular warfare, homeland defense, disaster response, and the integration of space and special operations capabilities.
Dr. Redding’s career reflects a consistent focus on linking strategy, operations, and scholarship to strengthen democratic resilience, partner capacity, and national defense in an era of complex and irregular conflict.