Michael Tougher, representing the US Army National Guard, is a national security affairs fellow for the academic year 2014-15 at the Hoover Institution.

Lieutenant Colonel Tougher enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1986 as an aircraft armament technician. In 1991, Tougher completed Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. He has served as an infantry officer at every leadership level through battalion command and held human resources, finance, and operations positions throughout the Guam Army National Guard, including as commander of the 94thCivil Support Team–Weapons of Mass Destruction. Tougher has deployed to the Horn of Africa and recently to Afghanistan as the commander of Task Force Guam. He has participated in various exercises in the Republic of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India.  Tougher holds a bachelor of science degree in economics and a master’s in business administration.  He and his wife, Wendy, consider Guam home; they have two daughters in college and a son who is a US Army lieutenant.