Sam Neill

Expertise

• National Security
• Strategy
• National Decision Making
• Defense and Military Affairs
• Civil-Military Relations
• Research Interests
• Defense Transformation

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  Sam Neill

  Visiting Fellow

  Short Bio

  Samuel Neill is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and an adjunct senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation. He previously served as a senior advisor to five chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and three service chiefs. His current research focuses on national security and defense transformation.

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  Mid-Length Bio

  Samuel Neill is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and adjunct senior international defense researcher at RAND Corporation. A strategic advisor with two decades of experience supporting senior military leaders, Neill brings insights into military organization and operations, defense policy, and global security challenges. His current research focuses on national security and defense transformation.

  Neill served as a strategic advisor to five chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and three service chiefs, shaping executive decisions on national security, policy, and international engagement. He assisted each of these leaders in strategy, organizational design, communications, legislation, and global security issues. Neill has also led initiatives on ethics and professional conduct within the military and has assisted senior leaders in executing sweeping personnel reforms. He is a recognized expert in civil-military relations, helping successive chairmen craft and deliver military advice to Congress, the secretary, and the president. He advised the chief of staff of the Air Force in the stand-up of the United States Space Force—translating institutional equities and legislative dynamics into military advice during one of the most consequential organizational changes in the department’s history.

  Neill is a twenty-eight-year veteran of the US Coast Guard, having served in strategic and operational assignments throughout his career. He was the strategist for the commandant of the Coast Guard, analyzing how emerging political, economic, and environmental factors impact the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security.

  Neill is a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy with a BS in electrical engineering and holds a master’s in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

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  To view, the complete bio visit https://www.hoover.org/profiles/sam-neill.