Russell D. Howard


Russell D. Howard is an American veteran Special Forces officer, academic, tutor, writer and counter-terrorism strategist.
BG. Russell Howard is Adjunct Professor and Director of the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Military career

General Howard served as an "A" Team Commander in the 7th Special Forces Group from 1970 to 1972. He left the active component and then served in the United States Army Reserve from 1972 to 1980. During this period he served as an Overseas Manager, American International Underwriters, Melbourne, Australia, and China Tour Manager and Canadian Pacific Airlines. He was recalled to active duty in 1980, and served initially in Korea as an Infantry Company Commander. Subsequent assignments included Classified Project Officer, U.S. Army 1st Special Operations Command, at Fort Bragg, and Operations Officer and Company Commander, 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group in Okinawa, Japan.
Howard was head of the Department of Social Sciences and the Founding Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. His previous positions include Deputy Department Head of the Department of Social Sciences, Army Chief of Staff Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and Commander of the 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis, Washington. Other recent assignments include Assistant to the Special Representative to the Secretary General during UNOSOM II in Somalia, Deputy Chief of Staff for I Corps, and Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander for the Combined Joint Task Force, Haiti/Haitian Advisory Group. Previously, General Howard was Commander of 3d Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served as the Administrative Assistant to Admiral Stansfield Turner and as a Special Assistant to the Commander of United States Southern Command. Brigadier General Howard was the Founding Director of the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at The Fletcher School, before leaving in September 2008. Presently, General Howard is a Senior Fellow at Joint Special Operations University and an Adjunct Professor at The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Books and publications