FP Virtual Dialogue: Actionable Intelligence During Crises

Brigadier General Steven J. Butow is the Space Portfolio Director for the Defense Innovation Unit, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering. Prior to joining DIU, he was the Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department. General Butow is a former Commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, CA, where his responsibilities included organizing, training, equipping, and maintaining 970 combat-ready forces and $1 Billion dollars of MC-130P aircraft, HH-60G helicopters and special mission equipment supporting the U.S. Air Force's combat rescue and personnel recovery missions. General Butow has additionally served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command in 2005, and as Chief of Personnel Recovery for U.S. Air Forces Central in 2007 supporting Operations IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. He graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Physics & Astronomy and earned a M.S. in Management with specialization in Air and Space Strategic Studies from the University of Maryland. General Butow has also completed executive courses at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and was a member of the National Leadership Preparedness Initiative Cohort 16. He is a lifetime member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for academic achievement. As a researcher with the SETI Institute, General Butow worked on instrument concepts for Mars surface soil analysis at NASA Ames Research Center. He later served as co-principal investigator for a series of airborne science missions for which he was recognized for outstanding achievement and contributions to the Space Science Division in 1999 and received an Ames Honor Award as a member of an Astrobiology Mission Project Team in 2000. General Butow has more than 3,500 flying hours in T-37, T-38, C-130, HC-130 and MC-130P aircraft.

Mr. Phillip C. Chudoba serves as the Associate Director for Capabilities, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. In this capacity, he is responsible for defining the strategic direction of the agency and implementing that strategy. He provides oversight, synchronization, guidance, and development of NGA, National System for Geospatial Intelligence, and Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence strategic direction, future resource programming, capabilities planning, and oversees acquisition, innovation, research, and the adoption of new technologies supporting GEOINT requirements. In his prior position, Mr. Chudoba was Director of the GEOINT Enterprise Directorate. Previously, he served as the Assistant Director of Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, from 2010 to 2018. Mr. Chudoba served as a U.S. Marine from 1980 to 2010, first as a Marine Infantryman before being commissioned, and then as an Intelligence Officer until his retirement as a Colonel. He commanded the 3rd Force Imagery Interpretation Unit during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and commanded the 1st Intelligence Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He participated in several major Joint Task Force operations, including Operations Deny Flight, Joint Endeavor, Deliberate Guard, and Guardian Retrieval. In addition, he completed numerous intelligence assignments in the Marine Division and the Marine Aircraft Wing. While assigned to the Deputy Directorate for Crisis Operations (J-2) at the Pentagon, he served as the Operations Officer for the National Intelligence Support Team. In later assignments, Mr. Chudoba managed all Marine Corps intelligence capability requirements as Director, Intelligence Integration Division, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and he subsequently managed the entire acquisition portfolio of Marine Corps intelligence capabilities as the Program Manager for Intelligence Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command. Mr. Chudoba earned his baccalaureate degree in Political Science/Soviet and East European Studies from Rutgers University, and earned graduate degrees from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Marine Corps University, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now The Eisenhower School). He is an alumnus of the Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, and is a former Associate Dean for Warfighting Studies at Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He also is a DAWIA Level 3 Certified Program Manager and an All-Marine Athlete. Mr. Chudoba’s distinctions include the Presidential Rank Award, the National Military Intelligence Association John T. Hughes Award, and numerous military decorations.

Tony Frazier joined Maxar in 2017 after its acquisition of DigitalGlobe and serves as our EVP of Global Field Operations. In this role he leads all sales, business development, and services delivery activities for the company outside of the Canadian market. Prior to this role Mr. Frazier served as President of Radiant Solutions. Mr. Frazier served as Senior Vice President, General Manager of DigitalGlobe’s Services business from 2013 and led GeoEye’s Marketing and Communications team since 2010, prior to its acquisition by DigitalGlobe in 2013. Prior to GeoEye, Mr. Frazier served as Senior Director of Product Management at Cisco Systems, where he brought to market emerging technologies core to Cisco’s video and collaboration strategy. Prior to Cisco, Mr. Frazier held senior marketing roles at Infor, iPhrase Technologies an MIT start-up acquired by IBM, and pcOrder.com. Mr. Frazier began his career in strategic consulting at Bain & Company. Mr. Frazier holds a Bachelors of Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA with distinction from Harvard University.

Ellen E. McCarthy was appointed by President Trump to be the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. She was sworn in on January 17, 2019. Ms. McCarthy returns to government service after three years in the private sector, where she served as President of Noblis NSP, leading its mission to serve clients in the Intelligence Community (IC). Before joining Noblis, from 2015 to 2018, she capped an over 25-year career in the IC serving as Chief Operating Officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. From 2008 to 2012 she served as the President of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), which supports government policy and programs relating to cyber security, counterintelligence, acquisition, and homeland security. From 2004 to 2008, Ms. McCarthy was the Director of the Human Capital Management Office and the Acting Director of Security in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD(I)). At DoD, she focused on policy development and strategy relating to intelligence reform, resource management, acquisitions, collection authorities, and personnel. Ms. McCarthy also served the Director of Intelligence Operations, Strategy, and Policy for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and played a critical role in moving the USCG intelligence program into the IC, establishing Maritime Intelligence Fusion Centers, expanding USCG attaché presence worldwide, and establishing new intelligence and law enforcement collection capabilities. Ms. McCarthy started her government career as an all source intelligence analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence and at Atlantic Fleet. Before joining the IC, she served as a technical research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analysis supporting the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. Ms. McCarthy is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

Andrew Sollinger is Foreign Policy’s Publisher. He joined FP in March 2018 to oversee all revenue generating efforts through subscriptions, sponsorships, advertising, events, podcasts and new ventures. Most recently at Business Insider as EVP – Subscriptions, Andrew previously ran the business side of Politico’s Capital New York acquisition (now Politico New York), was Managing Director – Americas at the Financial Times, and helped build and sell the digital startup Money Media to FT. He started his media career as a journalist at Institutional Investor, and was based in New York, London and Hong Kong. He has extensive experience in management, product development, digital and subscription sales, research, and in setting strategy.