Ed O'Connell

Areas of Interest: Grand Strategy, National Defense Strategies, National Military Strategy, Security Studies

Eddie is an active-duty Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel.  He is pursuing a PhD at Notre Dame as a Commandant of the Marine Corps PhD Strategist fellow.  Research interests include grand strategy, military strategy, military innovation, and weapons proliferation.

Assignments spanning an over 19-year career include: command at the platoon, company, and battalion levels; instructor at the US Naval Academy; lead operational planner at Marine Forces Southern Command; operations and plans officer for hurricane relief operations; and various other staff positions.    

He is a 2003 Graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received his commission via the NROTC program.  He is a graduate of the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, a distinguished graduate of the Marine Expeditionary Warfare School, a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (Master of Military Studies), a graduate of the School of Advanced Warfighting (Master of Operational Studies).  He also holds a master’s degree with distinction from the University of Maryland as part of the Marine Corps’ Leadership, Education and Development program.