Scott Bethel is a retired Air Force Brigadier General with 38 years of senior leadership experience in small business development, business intelligence, strategic planning, organizational design, intelligence, information technologies and security, cyber, and education. He served as vice commander of the Air Force ISR Agency (AFISRA), where he oversaw the organization, training, and equipping of assigned forces to conduct ISR for the nation. In wartime, Gen Bethel retired as the Air Force’s senior Targeting Officer with deep experience in Desert Storm, Kosovo, OEF, and OIF. He was NATO’s chief targeteer and leader on the Munitions Effectiveness Teams, where he provided in-depth analysis of the selection and success of the bombing campaigns. His consulting clients include Raytheon, Wyle Labs, SAP/NS2, Lockheed Martin, and Leidos. He also writes and speaks extensively on Russian foreign policy and authored a book on Putin’s foreign policy aims early in his rule. He has founded and served as the CEO of four successful companies. His current focus is on ISR, Space, and Cyber Operations, Strategy, Policy, Education, and Training. He has also launched a new company in the oil and gas industry. He’s worked in an advisory and training role with U.S. and coalition partners, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Thailand, Poland, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Finland, and Mexico.

Gen Bethel holds a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College and a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Northern Illinois University. He was also a national security fellow at Boston University. He has authored numerous articles and is the author of the book Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Russian Foreign Policy for a New Millennium: A New Approach.

He served as the senior Distributed Common Ground Station (DGS) mission operations commander and as the Air Force’s senior targeteer. He has also served as the commander of the 17th Training Wing at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, where he was responsible for the initial training of all Air Force intelligence personnel. His other assignments include a variety of command and staff positions, including roles within Air Education and Training Command, as well as multiple deployments to combat areas. He has spoken and published extensively on business startups, ISR and cyber strategy and policy, future ISR systems, and the modernization of processing, exploitation, and dissemination efforts.