Major Thomas G. Pledger is an Infantry officer in the U.S. Army National Guard, currently serving in the Secretary of Defense Strategic Thinkers Program at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. His professional and academic research is focused on a holistic approach to counterfacilitation, network targeting, stability operations and irregular warfare. He is a 2020 Foundation for Defense of Democracies National Security Fellow and a 2020 Nonproliferation Policy Education Center Fellow, and he has held appointments as a guest lecturer at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. He has served in multiple combat zone deployments, supporting conventional and special operations forces. Pledger holds an MA in Humanities in Organizational Dynamics, Group Think and Communication from Tiffin University; an MA in Public Service and Administration from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University; and additional separate graduate certifications in Advanced International Affairs (Intelligence, Counterterrorism and Defense Policy and Military Affairs) from Texas A&M University. His work has been featured in select outlets such as Breaking Defense, Divergent Options and SOF News.