Join us for the final CISSM Global Forum of the semester featuring Nate Freier, senior research associate at CISSM and former director of the Department of Defense’s Campaign Decision Support Team. Drawing on nearly four decades of experience in military strategy and national security leadership, Freier will offer insights into how senior decision-makers navigate dynamic risks in an era of great power rivalry. His talk will explore the evolving demands of strategic leadership in complex, competitive environments.
A Zoom link will be provided to all that register by 10 am on the morning of the event.
Speaker Bio
Nate Freier has nearly four decades of national security experience a senior Defense Department official, a strategic analyst, and a military officer, among other roles.
Nate returned to national security research and analysis in September 2024 after serving as the founder and inaugural director of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Campaign Decision Support Team (CDST) from May 2023 to August 2024. As CDST Director, Nate and his team were responsible for providing the DoD’s most senior leadership with guidance- and decision-ready assessments and insights on the enterprise’s performance in great power rivalry.
Immediately prior to serving as CDST Director, Nate was a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DSD) from January 2022 to May 2023. In that capacity, he was the DSD’s resident expert on enterprise-level campaigning against strategic rivals and military concept development. Nate came to the DSD’s office from the United States Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) where he was an Associate Professor (research) of National Security Studies. Prior to service with SSI, Nate was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a Visiting Research Professor at the Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI).
Nate began his career as a civilian defense and national security professional after completing a 20-year military career as an Army field artillery officer and strategist. While in uniform, Nate witnessed German reunification and the end of the Cold War firsthand as a junior artillery officer in Europe. He led a multiple launch rocket system platoon in the famous VII Corps “left hook” during the Persian Gulf War. As an Army strategist, he was instrumental in numerous high-profile strategy development and strategic planning efforts at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of the Army, Multi-National Force—Iraq, and Multi-National Corps—Iraq. With a small team of civilian and military strategists, this included primary responsibility for the development of the 2005 National Defense Strategy.
Nate is widely published as a defense and national security researcher, and he has been a trusted source of strategic advice for the defense and national security community for many years. Of late – and in light of his most recent Pentagon work, Nate specializes in helping enterprise-level leaders adapt to change in the strategic environment; set and implement strategic vision; identify and exploit opportunity; mitigate risk; and master a dynamic intent/design/action/outcome/assessment/adaptation cycle that is so essential to success in contemporary competition and rivalry.
Nate has been formally recognized for superior service numerous times throughout his career. Nate’s military awards include the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Star Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. His civilian awards include the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, and three Commander’s Awards for Civilian Service.