Professional Profile
Colonel Randall Larsen, USAF (Ret) is the national security advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.
He formerly served as a professor and department chair at the National War College, the founding director of the Institute for Homeland Security, the executive director of the bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, and along with former Senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent founded the Bipartisan WMD Terrorism Research Center where he served as the chief executive officer until December 2011.
Larsen is the author of Our Own Worst Enemy: Asking the Right Questions About Security to Protect You, Your Family, and America (Warner Books, 2007), AVOIDING THE ABYSS: Progress, Shortfalls, and the Way Ahead in Combating the WMD Threat (Air War College, 2005), What Corporate America Needs to Know About Bioterrorism (National Legal Center, 2003), and The Executive’s Desk Book on Corporate Risks and Response for Homeland Security (National Legal Center, 2003). His op-eds and commentaries have been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, USA Today, New York Post, DomPrep, and the Ripon Forum.
He retired as an Air Force Colonel in July 2000 after serving in both the Army and Air Force for a combined total of 32 years of active duty military service. His flying career began as a 19-year old Cobra pilot in the 101st Airborne Division. He flew 400 combat missions in Vietnam. He also served as military attaché at the US Embassy in Bangkok, the chief of legislative liaison at the US Transportation Command, and the commander of America’s fleet of VIP aircraft at Andrews AFB MD. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, 17 awards of the Air Medal (3 with “V” Device for Valor), and the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
