WAYNE PORTER, PhD CAPT, USN (ret), DIRECTOR OF THE LITTORAL OPERATIONS CENTER

Biography | CV

Wayne Porter holds a PhD in Information Sciences and two Masters of Science degrees (Computer Science and Joint C4I Information Technology) from the Naval Postgraduate School. CAPT Porter’s military tours and assignments included Fleet Ocean Surveillance Intelligence Center, Europe (FOSICEUR) in London; British nuclear submarine HMS TORBAY (SSN-16); USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC-19), Yokosuka, Japan; Reserve Intelligence Program Office TEN (Minneapolis, MN); Naval Postgraduate School; Joint Analysis Center, Molesworth, England; Regional Headquarters South (RHQ SOUTH), Naples, Italy; Commander Naval Forces Europe/Commander SIXTH FLEET (COMNAVEUR/C6F), Naples, Italy; Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO); Commander Naval Forces Central Command/Commander FIFTH FLEET (COMNAVCENT/C5F), Manama, Bahrain; Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OCJCS); and, Chair for Systemic Strategy and Complexity at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California.

While assigned to FOSICEUR (1989-1992) LT Porter served as both a FOSIC Watch Officer and as the Soviet Northern Fleet submarine desk officer; in this capacity, he was chosen by Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM), Royal Navy to briefly serve aboard HMS TORBAY (SSN 16) as Intelligence Officer. In his next assignment as Intelligence Division Officer, aboard USS BLUE RIDGE (1992-1994), LT Porter qualified as Surface Warfare Officer and Steam Engineer of the Watch. As Officer In Charge of Reserve Intelligence Program Office TEN (1994-1997), LCDR Porter established one of the first operational Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) nodes in CONUS. Two subsequent years at Naval Postgraduate School (1997-1999) resulted in two Masters of Science degrees.

Upon graduation, LCDR Porter was assigned to JAC Molesworth (1999-2001) where he volunteered to deploy as Deputy Commander/Operations Officer of the US National Intelligence Cell (USNIC) in Pristina, Kosovo. At the USNIC he provided intelligence support to the US Political Advisor (POLAD) to COMKFOR during a period of heightened tension in the Presevo Valley and was subsequently assigned to the Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General as a negotiator between Albanian insurgents and government authorities in southern Serbia. During his ten month deployment to Kosovo and southern Serbia LCDR Porter was transferred by CINCSOUTH to RHQ SOUTH to serve in the office of the US/NATO Political Advisor. Between 2001 and 2004, CDR Porter participated in most high level contacts between the NATO International Staff and the Federal and State governments in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Skopje, Macedonia. He served as Deputy Political Advisor-Balkans at NATO’s Joint Force Headquarters – South until July 2004, when he transferred to the newly transformed combined staff of COMSIXTHFLT-COMUSNAVEUR as Operational Net Assessment Supervisor.

In 2005, CDR Porter was assigned to Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Mike Mullen’s personal staff as Director, Strategic Actions Group (N00Z). Promoted to CAPT, Porter’s next assignment (2007 – 2008) was as Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence - N2, for COMNAVCENT/C5F in Manama, Bahrain, additionally serving as the Deputy Director, Maritime Operations Center. CAPT Porter was then assigned to the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, ADM Mike Mullen, serving as Special Assistant to the Chairman for Strategy. In 2011, CAPT Porter was assigned by the Secretary of Defense to the Naval Postgraduate School where he established a Chair, for Systemic Strategy and Complexity, concurrently completing a PhD that explored the value of systemic thinking and system dynamics modeling to strategic planning. His doctoral dissertation was an action research case study and system dynamics model of the Steinbeck Innovation Cluster strategy he helped develop to marry the technology and innovation of Silicon Valley with the agriculture and aquaculture industries of Monterey County, California and the Salinas Valley. While serving at NPS, he was named a “Walton Fellow” at Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability.

He retired from the Navy in July 2014 after 28 years of service. In June 2015, Dr Porter joined the faculty of the Naval Postgraduate School, where he now serves as Executive Director of the CORE (social network analysis) Lab, Director of the Littoral Operations Center, and Senior Lecturer in the Defense Analysis Department.

Cited in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America, his civilian and military awards include the Vice Admiral Rufus B. Taylor Award for Professional Excellence in Intelligence, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, and the NATO Meritorious Service Medal. He co-authored, with Colonel Mark Mykleby, “A National Strategic Narrative,” published by the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and subsequently cited in numerous journals, televised editorials and radio interviews (www.nationalstrategicnarrative.org). His articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Journal of American Foreign Policy Interests, The HotSpring Quarterly, the Washington Times, two OSD/JS White Papers, Naval Institute Proceedings, and the 8th Euromicro Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Processing.

FOUNDING MEMBER DEAN EMERITUS WAYNE HUGHES

Graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School in 1964.  Teaching and research interests in Tactical and Campaign Analysis, Joint Littoral Warfare, Theory of Combat, and Naval History.  He is also author of the books Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice and Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat.

FOUNDING MEMBER PROFESSOR JEFF KLINE

Professor of Practice in Operations Research, Program Director of Maritime Defense and Security, and Program Director for the Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research.  Jeff Kline attended the University of Missouri, School of Engineering, graduating with honors in Industrial Engineering, and received his Navy commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program in 1979.  His initial sea tour was in USS MOOSBRUGGER (DD-980) serving as Gunnery Officer and Navigator with sea tours as a propulsion officer on the USS RANGER (CV-61), Combat Systems Officer on the USS JOHN L. HALL (FFG-32), Operations Officer for Tactical Destroyer Squadron 32, Commanding Officer of USS AQUILA (PHM-4), Commanding Officer of USS CUSHING (DD-985), and Deputy Operations Officer of COMSIXTHFLT.  His shore tours include Marine Corps Landing Force Training Command, Pacific as an instructor in Naval Gunfire and Supporting Arms and Office of the Secretary of Defense as a Naval Analyst.

FOUNDING MEMBER WINFORD G. (JERRY) ELLIS

Professor and Undersea Warfare Chair and the Director of the Undersea Warfare Research Center.  Jerry Ellis is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964.  He served 36 years on active duty as a Nuclear Submariner.  He also served as an Oceanographer of the Navy, Director of Navy Special Programs, Director of the Deep Submergence Program, Deputy Assistant for Military Application in the Dept of Energy, Senior Member of the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, and U.S. Representative on the NATO Naval Armaments Group (NNAG). After retirement, was selected for the Senior Executive Service and served as the Director of the Deep Submergence Program for eight years. Prior to coming to NPS, had the position of Special Assistant for Undersea Strategy for the Secretary of the Navy.

FOUNDING MEMBER JEFF APPLEGET

Senior Lecturer in Operations Research. Jeff Appleget is a graduate of United States Military Academy, 1979. He has an M.S. in Operations Research and Statistics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1989 and Ph.D. in Operations Research, Naval Postgraduate School, 1997. Teaching and research interests in Irregular Warfare and Counterinsurgency Operations—models, methods, and tools for analysis, Combat Modeling, Linear and integer programming solution techniques and their applications, Test and Evaluation, Modeling and Simulation, Cutting Planes, Scheduling, and Constraint Branching. He has served as a US Army Field Artillery Officer, Operations Research Systems Analyst at the Concepts Analysis Agency, Instructor in Department of Mathematical Sciences at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy, Director of the TRADOC Analysis Center-Monterey, Commander of Troops and Senior Military Analyst at the TRADOC Analysis Center-White Sands Missile Range, Deputy Director and Senior Military Analyst at the TRADOC Analysis Center-Fort Leavenworth, and Deputy Director, Senior Military Analyst, and Irregular Warfare Project Lead at the TRADOC Analysis Center.