Anthony Shaffer, LTC, USAR

Senior Fellow

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer is a senior operations officer and Military Operations Training Course (MOTC) graduate with over 23 years of field experience. He has held numerous leadership positions, including as commander of Operating Base (OB) Alpha (Defense Intelligence) and as directing Task Force STRATUS IVY – a unit that conducted cutting edge technology and information operations from the mid 90s through the turn of the century. He has played key roles in multiple interagency operations that were conducted with the NSA, CIA and FBI.

Lt. Col. Shaffer has lead operations from the tactical level, such as defense source operations to protect REFORGER exercises in the 1980s to strategic level, such as STRATUS IVY’s direct support mission for Operation ABLE DANGER in the late 1990s. Prior to the consolidation of all Department of Defense (DoD) Human Intelligence resources and operations under DIA in 1995, he was the chief of Army’s controlled HUMINT program – overseeing Army Intelligence and Security Command’s global controlled HUMINT efforts. He was responsible for combining cutting-edge technology with traditional military operations and intelligence collection to maximize the Department of Defense’s ability to detect, monitor and neutralize emerging threats.

Lt. Col. Shaffer has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and other major TV and radio programs, and has been interviewed by The New York Times and other publications on pre-9/11 operations focused on Al Qaeda. He has testified before Congress on issues relating to 9/11 intelligence and operational failures.

Lt. Col. Shaffer was awarded the Bronze Star for the first of his two combat tours to Afghanistan. He was credited for conducting highly complex operational support to NSA, and for playing a critical role in breaking the back of a Taliban counteroffensive in the fall of 2003. In addition, he was called back to active duty for DESERT STORM/DESTERT SHIELD in 1991 to perform special support to Army Intelligence. He has been deployed to Thailand, Germany and New Zealand to support DoD efforts as an active duty member of the Army in addition to his Afghanistan experience.

Lt. Col. Shaffer is a 1986 graduate of Wright State University, where he was awarded a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies.