LEADERSHIP
Liam Collins, Executive 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, and from 2016-2018, he served as General (ret.) Abizaid’s executive officer for his Secretary of Defense appointment 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 in Public Affairs and a PhD from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies
John W. Spencer currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies where he leads all research relating to understanding the many facets of urban warfare.
He recently 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 also previously served as a Colonel in the California State Guard with assignment to the 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard as the Director of Urban Warfare Training. He served over twenty-five years on active duty in the Army as an infantry soldier having held ranks from Private to Sergeant First Class and Second Lieutenant 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, Strategic Planner and then Deputy Director of the Modern War Institute where he was instrumental in the design and formation of the institute.
His research focuses on military operations in dense urban areas, megacities, urban and subterranean warfare.
He holds a Master of Policy Management from Georgetown University.
He looks forward to connecting via Twitter @SpencerGuard.
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, O&G and Process markets.
Skip has served as a board member and chairman with several companies that included Pinzgauer (a UK based military vehicle company), board member and Chairman for the Measurement Control & Automation Association, the advisory board of the Texas US Veterans organization and currently a member of the Advisory Council with the West Point Association of Graduates.
Skip obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds an MA in Finance from Webster University.
He and his wife Wanda reside in Prosper, Texas.
Frank Viola, Fellow
Frank Viola, JD, PhD, is a Friend of the Madison Policy Forum and a former U.S. Marine Corps Captain who served as a Judge Advocate after admission to the New Jersey Bar.
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
Josh Richardson is a principal consultant with DEKRA North America, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience across sectors including national security and defense, multinational organizations, not-for-profit, and entrepreneurial ventures. A retired Lieutenant Colonel, Josh served 23 years in the United States Army, with operational assignments in elite units such as the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. He held leadership positions from the small unit level to enterprise-wide commands, leading both conventional and special operations forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Josh also played a strategic role in shaping NATO policy, contributing to readiness initiatives in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014. He concluded his military career at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught International Relations and Counterterrorism and served as the Superintendent’s Director of Strategic Communications. Following his military service, Josh transitioned to consulting in the national defense and security sector and co-founded a start-up focused on geostrategic risk and leadership advisory. He brings a global perspective and a systems-level approach to organizational leadership and risk management.
Josh holds a B.S. in Geography and Environmental Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he studied under the General Wayne A. Downing Scholarship. Josh lives in West Point, NY. When he's not working, he enjoys time with family around sports, food, and travel.
