Leadership

Liam Collins, Director

Colonel (ret.) Liam Collins was a career Special Forces officer who served in a variety of special operations assignments. He conducted multiple operational deployments in support of various operations including Operational Nobile Anvil (Kosovo), Operation Joint Forge (Bosnia), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as operational deployments to South America and the Horn of Africa. Previously, he served as the Director of the Modern War Institute and Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Additionally, from 2016-2018, he served as executive officer to General (ret.) Abizaid during his appointment by the Secretary of Defense as the Senior Defense Advisor to Ukraine.

His work has been cited by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the White House Press Secretary, The New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN, ABC News, Fox News, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace) from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Public Affairs and a PhD from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

John Spencer, Chair of War Studies

John Spencer currently serves as the Chair of War Studies where he leads all research relating to understanding the many facets of war and warfare.

Recently, he served as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies, Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project podcast for the Modern War Institute at West Point. He previously served as a Colonel in the California State Guard, directing urban warfare training for the 40th Infantry Division. He cofounded and taught the only course designed to help division and brigade commanders plan and execute large-scale urban operations.

In his over twenty-five years in the active Army as an infantry soldier, Spencer has held ranks from Private to Major. His assignments as an Army officer included two combat deployments to Iraq as both an Infantry Platoon Leader and Company Commander, a Ranger Instructor with the Army’s Ranger School, a Joint Chief of Staff and Army Staff intern, fellow with the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group, and Co-Founder, Strategic Planner, and Deputy Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point where he was instrumental in the design and formation of the institute.

His research spans the strategic to tactical levels of war, with a particular focus on military operations in dense urban and subterranean environments. His cutting-edge fieldwork is ongoing and in recently concluded conflicts such as Nagorno-Karabakh, India, Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. He holds a Master of Policy Management from Georgetown University.

He is on X @SpencerGuard and Substack https://substack.com/@spencerguard.

Sean Morrow, Fellow for National Security and Foreign Affairs

Colonel Sean Morrow, PhD brings MPF a nuanced look at the intersections of strategic competition and non-state actors. He has a particular focus on technology, finance, alliances, and the changing nature of warfare and diplomacy. Sean serves the Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

He is a native of Naperville, Illinois and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer after graduating from West Point in 2001. Sean has served in leadership roles across multiple combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also commanded the United Nations Command Security Battalion in Panmunjom, Korea. There he served on the Tri-Lateral Commission representing the United Nations Command in talks with North Korea. COL Morrow was involved in over 40 direct engagements with the North Korean government and hosted the U.S., ROK, and DPRK Presidents/Chairman in Panmunjom for a historic meeting in 2019.

Sean earned his PhD and MA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He holds an MA in Irish Studies from Boston College, where he studied narratives of terrorism and political violence. Sean serves as the President of the West Point Class of 2001.

Skip Tierno, Fellow

Skip Tierno is a veteran, and a successful business leader having served in numerous global companies across his 48-year career. Skip’s global experience brings a strong understanding of markets and an array of industries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Skip recently transitioned from his corporate career as the Executive Vice President within the Fluid Solutions business unit of Ultra Clean Technology, where he was responsible for all commercial operations across the Semiconductor, Oil & Gas and Process markets.

Skip has served as a board member and chairman with several companies that included Pinzgauer (a UK based military vehicle company), Chairman and board member of the Measurement Control & Automation Association, the advisory board of the Texas U.S. Veterans organization and currently a member of the Advisory Council for the West Point Association of Graduates.

Skip earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Finance degree from Webster University.

He resides in Prosper, Texas.

Frank Viola, Fellow

Frank Viola, JD, PhD, is a former U.S. Marine Corps Captain who served as a Judge Advocate after admission to the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA).

After completing his active-duty service, Dr. Viola entered private legal practice before turning to academic work, studying American culture at Columbia University and later focusing on history, culture, politics, and presidential decision-making at Drew University. His current research interests include civil-military relations and voluntary military service in a time of material abundance.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Viola lives with his wife, Cindy, and their family in Chatham, New Jersey.

Josh Richardson, Fellow