Colonel Ben Hopper
Colonel Ben Hopper is an Army Military Intelligence (MI) Officer with a wide variety of National Security Experience. He is a native of Indiana where he attended undergraduate and ROTC at Indiana University. He later received his master’s in security studies at Kansas State. Ben has deployed 14 times in support of U.S. security interests including Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Qatar, and Korea. He served in a variety of roles, including Senior Intelligence Officer, member of the intelligence community, posts in the National Security Agency, and Joint Task Force Commander. Ben spent more than 11 years in the Special Operations community with the majority of that time in the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment where he served a variety of roles including the Senior Intelligence Officer during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, commander of the Ranger’s Military Intelligence and Multi-Domain unit, and was the first MI Officer to serve as the Deputy Commander of the Ranger Regiment.
Lt. Col. Perry
Lt. Col. Perry is a National Defense Fellow at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
He commissioned in 2004 and became an MC-130 pilot, accumulating 4200 hours flying special operations missions through 15 deployments across six continents. He’s commanded Airmen at many levels, most recently as the 352nd Special Operations Support Squadron Commander where he oversaw support functions for special operations, including Aircrew Flight Equipment, Communications, Intelligence, Security, Weather, and Medical Services. After command, he served as Executive Officer to General James Hecker, Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe & Africa and NATO Allied Air Command. Lt Col Perry holds a Master of Business Administration, Master of Military Art & Science, and completed the Air University Fellowship at Maxwell AFB, Ala.
Commander Phillips
Commander Phillips is a native of New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a Master of Arts in International Relations from American Military University. She was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in January 2001 and was designated a Naval Intelligence Officer the same year.
Her operational assignments include Assistant Intelligence Officer onboard the USS IWO JIMA (LHD-7); the C4I Department Head at SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team TWO; the Officer in Charge of the Naval Fleet Intelligence Adaptive Force in Naples Italy; the Chief of Analysis at Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, where she also served as the Chief of Staff and Information Warfare Community Lead at Task Force FIVE-NINE.
In addition, she completed two deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, a deployment to Camp Lemonier in support of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Horn of Africa, and served as part of Combined Joint Task Force-Liberia.
Ashore, Commander Phillips served as a Liaison Officer and Strategic Debriefer with the Defense Intelligence Agency Liaison Office in London; Officer in Charge of the Joint Reserve Intelligence Center New Orleans; Collection Manager, Watchfloor Supervisor, and the intelligence representative on the Commander’s Action Group at U.S. Special Operations Command. She also served as the Regional Officer in Charge of the Naval Information Warfare Reserve Region Southeast.
She assumed her current duties as the Officer in Charge of Chief of Naval Operations- Intelligence Plot, in May of 2022, leading the unit responsible for executive intelligence support for the Chief of Naval Operations, Secretary of the Navy, and their respective staffs.
Her personal decorations include the Defense Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and various campaign and unit awards.