Colonel Francis J.H. Park, PhD: SEI Secretary
​
Dr. Park is the Chief, Strategy Development Division, Directorate of Strategy, Plans, and Policy (J-5), the Joint Staff and an Army Strategist (FA 59). After commissioning in 1994 as an armor officer, he served primarily in armored and light airborne cavalry assignments. He was designated an Army strategic plans and policy officer in 2004. His assignments include service as a plans officer for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Combined/Joint Task Forces 82 and 101 in Operation Enduring Freedom. After instructor duty at the US Army Command and General Staff College, he served at the U.S. Army Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 as the strategy branch chief and principal author of the 2014 Army Strategic Planning Guidance. His other combat service includes tours as deputy director of the International Security Assistance Force Commander’s Action Group and director, Commander’s Initiatives Group, Combined/Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve. He is one of the two authors of the 2018 National Military Strategy, as well as one of the authors of the U.S. Army’s history of Operation Enduring Freedom, to be published in 2018.A native of Short Pump, Virginia, he holds a B.A. in history from the Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in international relations from St. Mary's University of San Antonio, Texas, an M.M.A.S. in theater operations from the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Kansas. He holds additional skills as a red team member and as a field historian.