Mr. Richard Samuels joined the Air War College faculty in 2017, and is the course director of the Grand Strategy Seminar there. He retired from the US Air Force as a colonel in 2016, after 30 years of active duty service. Mr. Samuels was a special operations aviator with over 3600 flying hours in several aircraft. He served in multiple combat operations from Just Cause to Iraqi Freedom. Samuels commanded at the major, lieutenant colonel and colonel levels, served several staff tours at higher headquarters, and also two tours on the Joint Staff. He holds a BS in Aeronautical Engineering, MS in Mechanical Engineering, and MA in Strategic Studies. Samuel’s areas of interest and expertise include command, leadership, strategy, command relations, national security decision making, civil-military relations, and operational design.