Page Text: Kyle Atwell
Codirector of the Irregular Warfare Initiative
Kyle Atwell is an active duty US Army officer, an instructor in the Social Sciences Department at West Point, and a PhD candidate in security studies at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. His operational experience includes assignments in North and West Africa, Afghanistan, South Korea, and Germany.
Elizabeth Buchanan
Codirector of Project 6633
Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan is an Australian polar geopolitics expert and codirector of MWI’s Project 6633. Her research interests include Arctic and Antarctic geopolitics, energy security, Russian grand strategy, and strategic studies more broadly. Dr. Buchanan is lecturer of strategic studies with Deakin University for the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Australian War College.
Ryan Burke
Codirector of Project 6633
Dr. Ryan Burke is an associate professor and curriculum director in the Department of Military & Strategic Studies at the US Air Force Academy and codirector of MWI’s Project 6633. Ryan came to USAFA after completing a Department of Defense–funded postdoctoral fellowship in the University of Delaware’s Joseph R. Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, where he also earned his PhD.
ML Cavanaugh
Codirector of the Shield Notes, Senior Fellow
Matt Cavanaugh is an active duty US Army strategist with global experience and assignments ranging from the Pentagon to Korea and West Point to the Middle East. He earned his master’s degree at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and his PhD under Professor Emeritus Colin Gray at the University of Reading (UK). His writings have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, among other outlets.
Jahara Matisek
Codirector of the Shield Notes
Jahara “Franky” Matisek is an active duty officer in the US Air Force, currently serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Military and Strategic Studies at the US Air Force Academy. He is a former C-17 pilot with over 2,000 hours of flight time, to include over 700 hours of combat time, and was a T-6 Instructor Pilot at the prestigious Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot program.
Shawna Sinnott
Codirector of the Irregular Warfare Initiative
Shawna Sinnott is an active duty Marine Corps officer who has served in a variety of operational, staff, policy, and leadership roles across I Marine Expeditionary Force, Special Operations Command, and Headquarters Marine Corps. Her operational deployments have taken her across West Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and East Africa. Shawna holds an AB from Harvard College and an MLitt from the University of St Andrews in the study of terrorism and political violence.
Maggie Smith
Codirector of the Competition in Cyberspace Project, Affiliated Faculty
Maggie Smith is a cyber officer assigned to the Army Cyber Institute. She originally enlisted in 2004 to complete her undergraduate education but serving quickly became a passion and turned into a career. She commissioned via ROTC in 2013 after completing her master of public policy (with a focus in homeland security and intelligence policy) at Georgetown University with the US Army’s Green to Gold program.