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Colonel
David J. Caswell
Permanent Professor 2018–
B.S., United States Air Force Academy
M.S., Air Force Institute of Technology
Ph.D., Stanford University
David Caswell, the Academy’s 100th Permanent Professor, was born in 1979 in Alexandria, Virginia. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2001 with majors in Computer Science and Operations Research. David’s first assignment was as a graduate student at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, where he earned his Master’s degree in Computer Science in 2002. In his subsequent assignments, he applied his education in areas that included software design and engineering, artificial intelligence and automation development, intelligence analysis, decision and risk analysis, and information operations. From 2003 to 2005 he was assigned to the Air University’s College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education, Maxwell AFB, AL, first as Chief, Joint Wargaming Development Section and later as Chief, Joint Warfare Simulation Integration Section. In the years 2005–2007 he was the Flight Commander, 29th Intelligence Squadron and Senior Military Analyst at NSA/CSS, Fort Meade, MD. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is the lead Department of Defense organization in cryptology, encompassing both Signals Intelligence and Information Assurance as well as cyberspace operations. From 2007 to 2010 David was a doctoral student at Stanford University. His dissertation research used artificial intelligence techniques to analyze national strategies for combatting nuclear weapons proliferation. During this period, he completed the Program for Emerging Leaders at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, DC. His PhD degree in Decision and Risk Analysis was awarded in 2010. Following Stanford, he was assigned, 2010–2012, as Chief, Analysis and Lessons Learned, 7th Air Force, Osan Air Base, Korea. In this position, he led the Commander’s top issue resolution process as well as orchestrating several South Korea–wide command post and field training exercises for Air Force units. David came to the Academy in 2012 for a three-year tour as Assistant Professor of Computer Science. During this time he helped design the Academy’s major in Computer and Network Security and directed several courses focused on cyber operations. He also designed and led planning for the Air Force Cyber Innovation Center (CyberWorx), which applies design thinking principles to solve Air Force cyber requirements. From 2015 to 2017 he was Commander of the 690th Network Support Squadron, Lackland AFB, TX, providing global tactical control of Air Force Information Network Operations through synchronization of activities across the Cyberspace Security and Control Weapon System, the Air Force Intranet Control Weapon System, the Air National Guard Network Operations Squadron, and base communication squadrons. David returned to the Academy in 2017 as a Permanent Professor nominee and Head of the newly named Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences. He was appointed a Permanent Professor in early 2018. He leads a faculty that helps cadets develop computer-based skills that can be applied in all Air Force career fields. Their Center for Cyberspace Research focuses on cyber warfare, information assurance, unmanned aerial systems, and cyberspace education.