A longtime backer of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and our University and Agency Partnership Program, Dr. Edward Campbell retired late last year as Chief of Joint Education within the J7 at the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.
Campbell, who retired in December, served for almost nine years in the top joint educational position at NORAD-USNORTHCOM after being appointed in February 2013.
Credited with reinvigorating the relationship between CHDS/UAPP and NORAD-USNORTHCOM, Campbell is described as a “consummate professional” and a “strong partner” between our graduate-level educational institution and the military commands he represented.
UAPP director Steve Recca said Campbell’s support over the years as the principal contact between CHDS and the Department of Defense, including as the educational liaison providing content and subject matter expertise, as well as a frequent annual contributor to UAPP, was invaluable and will be missed.
“Ed was a strong partner, ally, and close friend for years,” Recca said. “Our relationship with NORAD-USNORTHCOM had entered a very quiet phase until he arrived, and Ed invested his [time and] intellect to reinvigorate the partnership. He was the principal link to help us fulfill the ‘defense’ of our mission. His are significant shoes to fill. Not just CHDS but the entire UAPP community will miss him.”
Campbell, who spent nearly thirty years in the Navy as a Naval Flight Officer before beginning his academic career, said he met the former UAPP director Dr. Stan Supinski—one of his predecessors at NORAD-USNORTHCOM—shortly after taking the joint education position and became familiar with CHDS and UAPP.
“It was through Stan that I was introduced to all the great folks behind CHDS and the UAPP effort,” he said. “I think (the relationship) was important to me almost at the onset. I saw a great opportunity for collectively advancing our Homeland Defense and Homeland Security efforts through enhanced liaison between the NORAD and USNORTHCOM (headquarters) and the exceptional programs offered through CHDS, and it was my goal to consistently build upon that relationship and partnership.”
Campbell said CHDS provided a great educational opportunity for NORAD-USNORTHCOM students and valuable access to great research work. He said there had previously been a “steady stream” of students participating in the CHDS programs, but leadership interest had waned. However, he said the NORAD-USNORTHCOM Commander Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr. visited the Naval Postgraduate School campus for a tour and told Campbell there would be a revival of the relationship between CHDS and the command.
According to Campbell, as many as sixty of his students have since attended CHDS educational programs, and he said one of the most valuable benefits they gained was access to the extensive CHDS network of alumni, faculty, and experts. “The networking built through the (CHDS) Master’s program was an invaluable opportunity,” he said.
Campbell said there has been a recent “lull” in the numbers of NORAD-USNORTHCOM students headed to CHDS as new leadership at the directorate has shifted focus toward digital literacy, but he said it still makes sense to continue the relationship. “We can’t help but have a relationship,” he said. “It’s very important to continue it. I still regard CHDS as an anchor institution.”
Recca said Campbell left an “active academic element” at NORAD-USNORTHCOM that “we’ll continue to work with to find ways to advance the defense education partnership.”
Campbell served for twenty-eight years in the Navy, mostly as a Naval Flight Officer in the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance community flying the P-3C aircraft, and served as Commanding Officer of Patrol Squadron 46 in Whidbey, WA, flying in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in the Middle East.
He completed an active-duty tour at NORAD-USNORTHCOM, where he served as Chief of the Maritime Defense Division, and also served as a Command Director at Cheyenne Mountain followed by a stint as Command Center Director at the combined NORAD-USNORTHCOM Command Center at Peterson AFB.
For his final tour in the Navy, Campbell was the Commanding Officer of the Navy’s ROTC program at Oregon State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Community College Leadership.
After retiring from the Navy in 2012, he worked for a short while as an Associate Dean at a Community College in Oregon before being hired as NORAD-USNORTHCOM Chief of Joint Education. Campbell, 65, said he knew it was “just time to go and pass the torch to someone else who would be well poised to move things forward in alignment with leadership priorities.” He said he plans to continue his volunteer work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children, and spend time working with non-profit organizations providing therapy dogs for Children’s Hospitals.
