Speakers

David E. Swanson, Col., U.S. Air Force, Retired is a distinguished professional in the fields of Space Systems Engineering, Space Operations, and Joint Operational Wargaming.  Currently serving as an Associate Professor of Wargaming at the U.S. Naval War College, he is a retired United States Air Force Colonel with nearly 25 years of active-duty service.  Professor Swanson combines deep operational and acquisition experience with academic rigor.  His extensive academic background includes five years within the Naval War College, a five-year tour at the Air Force Academy’s Department of Astronautics, and the accumulation of master’s degrees in electrical engineering, operations research (Space Ops), military arts & sciences, and computational sciences.

Col Swanson’s career is marked by high-level leadership in both military and corporate environments.  At the Naval War College, he serves as a Space Expert, providing critical subject matter expertise for the development and execution of professional games such as the DEGRE, Global, and C5ISRT war game series.  He has designed, managed, and participated in over 30 professional war games and is currently editing the “War Gamer’s Handbook.”  His scholarly contributions include presenting his theoretical research conducted at the Naval Post Graduate School at the 93rd Military Operations Research Society (MORS) Symposium.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Swanson held significant leadership positions at Northrop Grumman, where he was the Senior Director of Safety and Mission Assurance.  In this capacity, he was the architect of Executive Readiness Reviews used to assess technical and supply chain risks prior to the delivery of Space vehicles.  He also served as the Flight Assurance Lead on the Antares Mishap Investigation Board and managed a directorate that grew to over 190 personnel.  A certified agilest, he led complex corporate transformations, including re-architecting the company’s foundational policies and procedures to improve operational speed and effectiveness.

During his distinguished Air Force career, Col Swanson served as the Director of Engineering and Chief Systems Engineer at the Space and Missile Systems Center.  He acted as the technical authority for a center that spent approximately $9.5B annually on cutting-edge space, ground, and launch systems while managing a human capital pool of over 600 scientists and engineers.  His policy impact was further felt during his time as an action officer for the National Security Space Architect, where he led a multi-agency team of 50 personnel to establish the National Security Space Road Map.  

His unique trajectory from a Lieutenant performing satellite crew commander duties to a professor developing theories on how wargaming produces genuine knowledge highlights his ongoing commitment to advancing national security through innovation and rigorous analysis.  Throughout his career, Professor Swanson has been recognized for his excellence in engineering and safety, earning the Legion of Merit as an officer to being named a JJ Keller and Associates 2018 Safety Professional of the Year.  He remains a prominent figure in the professional community, holding current memberships in MORS and the World Board Game Association.  In previous years, he served as a board member for the ASQ Aviation, Space and Defense Division and has led the judging panel for Google’s X-prize contest.