Randy Larsen

Randy Larsen, Colonel Randall J. Larsen (USAF, Ret), is a Vice President and the Director of the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, which describes itself as a "not-for-profit public-service research institute."

The following comes from the ANSER Institute web site:

Col. Larsen is a "member of the Defense Science Board (2003: DoD's Role in Homeland Security), and serves as a member of the editorial board for the quarterly journal "Bioterrorism and Biosecurity: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science" (Johns Hopkins University).

"Since 9-11, numerous senior government officials, including Vice President Richard Bruce Dick Cheney and Governor Tom Ridge, have sought his advice and counsel. He has served as an expert witness in hearings held by the Senate and the House of Representatives and provided informational briefings to numerous Members of Congress, the military, the Intelligence Community, and business audiences. His recent speaking engagements include the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, the International Institute for Security Studies (London), the German Marshall Fund (Brussels), the Young Presidents' Organization, the Washington State Police Chiefs Annual Conference, numerous universities, and World Affairs Councils. He is also a frequent guest commentator on national television and radio, including the Jim Lehrer NewsHour, CBS News, MSNBC, the Fox News Channel, the O'Reilly Factor, CNBC, ABC's Nightline, and Larry King Live, plus NPR, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBC, and BBC radio.

"He is a co-author of A CEO's Desk Reference for Homeland Security, published by the National Legal Center for the Public Interest (scheduled for release in February 2003). He and his staff developed and teach graduate courses in homeland security at George Washington University, Johns Hopkins School of Arts and Sciences, and the National War College. During the past eight years, he has written and lectured extensively on the subjects of asymmetric and biological warfare and the 21st-century challenges of homeland security. He previously served as the Chairman of the Department of Military Strategy and Operations at the National War College, as a government advisor to the Defense Science Board (Intelligence Requirements for Homeland Defense (2000)), as a research fellow at the Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies (1994-1995), and as a fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program (1999-2000).

"He was a co-developer of the nationally acclaimed Dark Winter exercise. Key players in this exercise included the Governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating; former Senator Sam Nunn; special assistant to four presidents David Gergen; former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, Jr.; and former FBI Director William Sessions.

"In June 2000, Colonel Larsen retired following 32 years of military service in the Army and Air Force. His assignments included 400 combat missions in Cobra gunships in Vietnam and duties as a military attaché, legislative assistant, and commander of America's fleet of VIP aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, 17 Air Medals, and the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He has a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from the Naval Post Graduate School." --- Excerpts of a Prepared Statement on Homeland Security The following is excerpted from a Prepared Statement that Colonel Larsen made on March 12, 2002, before the House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations.


 * My study of the biological threat to the American homeland began while serving as a National Defense Research Fellow at the Mathew B. Ridgway Center for Strategic and International Studies in 1994. Several years later, while serving as the Chairman, Department of Military Strategy and Operations, at the National War College, I developed a strategic framework for the study of homeland security.  Assisting in this effort was Colonel Dave McIntyre, the Dean of Academics at the National War College, and Dr. Ruth David, the former Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency. Today, Dr. McIntyre serves as my deputy, Dr. David is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ANSER (a nonprofit, public-service research institute), and this strategic framework is the intellectual foundation of the Institute for Homeland Security.  It contains seven elements: deterrence, prevention, preemption, crisis management, consequence management, attribution, and response.


 * The differences between the framework identified in Executive Order 13228 and the framework recommended in this statement are more than just semantics. Deterrence, preemption, and response must be critical elements of our nation&#8217;s homeland security posture and declared strategy.  It is imperative that we think of homeland security as an integrated cycle instead of as a set of discrete, unrelated missions.  This is the framework that can best ensure the proper development of long-range strategies, policies, resource allocations and reorganization efforts.  Integration and coordination would be far simpler if all Federal agencies adopted this framework.