Colonel Benjamin Fernandes, USA joined the National War College as military faculty in April 2025 following a tour as the Director for Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council, Executive Office of the President. He earned a PhD in public policy from George Mason University, MS in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University, an MBA from Auburn, and a BS in International Relations with minors in Russian and Systems Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is also an adjunct professor at GMU teaching a graduate course on National Security Technology and Policy and a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
At the National Security Council COL Fernandes was responsible for a range of issues including war plans, irregular warfare, military posture, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, and other topics. Prior to that, he served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy leading war planning reform initiatives as well as cyber and Indo-Pacific contingency plans. As a Team Leader in the Joint Staff’ Joint Operational War Plans Division he dealt with global integration and contingency plans for key threats – adversaries and pandemics. He also spent a year as a RAND Army fellow working projects including cyber activities in war plans, the next generation ground combat vehicle, and integrating non-kinetic effects with traditional kinetic operations. In 2017, he managed the Army Science Board’s study on the use of Robotics and Autonomous Systems after serving as the Chief of Plans for the National Commission on the Future of the Army.
COL Fernandes spent substantial time working counterterrorism issues for Special Operations Command as a planner and interagency coordination officer at the National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC) Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning covering CT and countering violent extremism issues. At NCTC, he led interagency teams to develop whole of government CT strategies and implementation plans while supporting several CT strategy assessments. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as a CT targeteer to the Joint Interagency Task Force – East and in 2014 as the Future Operations Branch Chief for a Joint Task Force where he helped develop the Task Force’s drawdown plan.
COL Fernandes began his career as an infantry officer in the 1-501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Alaska where he led two platoons and served as the battalion civil-military officer. He transitioned to military intelligence in 2003 to serve in Korea as a battalion intelligence officer and then as a counterintelligence and human intelligence company commander. In 2006 he moved to the European Command’s (EUCOM) Joint Intelligence Operations Center in England where he served a variety of intelligence roles, including teaching and evaluating portions of the Military Intelligence Basic Officer Course in Bamako, Mali, which trained military officers from ten partner nations.
COL Fernandes earned the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and many lesser awards. He also completed a myriad of military training courses including Ranger and Jumpmaster schools. He co-led a team that won the NCTC Director’s team award and individually won the Golden Pen award from the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. The Army Strategist Association awarded him the Order of St. Gabriel (Gold) for extraordinary service on and off duty. He served as the Army Strategist Association President from 2017 to 2020.
Functional Expertise: War planning; Application of technology to military activities (e.g., robotics, automation); Counterterrorism; Irregular warfare; Intelligence activities
Regional Experience: East Asia, Middle East, Europe, South Asia
Link to Published Works