Doug is one of 11 people to have served as Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to the President, where he developed and implemented over two dozen strategies and policies and led key decision-making fora to address complex homeland and national security challenges. Through his 40-year career in public service, Doug has served as an operator, program manager, policymaker, legislative liaison, budget and program examiner and strategist leading efforts to assure mission accomplishment while managing risk to the nation at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.
In earlier White House assignments, he served on the National Security Council staff as Senior Director for Resilience Policy and Director for Central America and the Caribbean.
Doug’s final active-duty assignment was as Director, Joint Interagency Task Force South, a 20-nation, whole of government combined effort to fight drug trafficking that integrates intelligence information, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and subject matter expertise to identify, locate, and interdict air and marine drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere. His team’s work attracted investment from numerous Defense Department innovation organizations, notably the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, now part of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office; Office of Naval Research and others.
Doug was a ship driver in the U.S. Coast Guard having served in eight ships, including as Commanding Officer for the cutters Hamilton, Diligence and Sitkinak. Other assignments included Assistant Commandant for Response Policy, Atlantic Area Chief of Staff, Chief of Law Enforcement, Program Reviewer in the Office of Budget and Programs, and Liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives. He retired from the Coast Guard in 2022 as a Rear Admiral.
In addition to his role as a Senior Advisor at The Chertoff Group, Doug is Chief Operating Officer at Artis International, which specializes in integrating artificial Intelligence and behavioral science. He is also a Senior Advisor to both the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Disaster Tech, is a member of The Vandenberg Coalition’s Advisory Board, is on the Board of Directors for Black Mountain Investment Company, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Naval Institute; his research interests include emerging complex threats to global democracy and security, homeland security and leadership of matrixed and cross functional teams. He has an MPA from Harvard, MA from the U.S. Naval War College, and a BS from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Expertise
National and Homeland Security decision-making
Technology Innovation
Malign influence
Big data/artificial intelligence
Critical infrastructure resilience
Continuity of government
Intelligence
Transnational Criminal Organizations
U.S. Interagency
Immigration
Maritime security
