Arnel P. David

Colonel

Colonel Arnel P. David is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Valley Forge Military College’s ROTC Early Commissioning Program. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant into the Florida Army National Guard with the 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

In 2000, COL David completed the Signal Officer’s Basic Course and entered active duty. After company command in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) he transitioned to Fort Bragg, NC to complete the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Civil Affairs Qualification and Regional Analysis Course. He has completed a variety of mediation, evasive driving, negotiation, surveillance detection, and other special operations and interagency training courses.

He is currently attending the Joint Advanced Warfighting School and previously served as the DACOS G5 for the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and just prior the US Special Advisor to the Chief of General Staff of the British Army (UK 4-Star General). He served as the Chief of Staff for the Army Future Studies Group in Washington D.C. under General Mark A. Milley. COL David redeployed in 2017 from Afghanistan where he served as the Commander’s Initiative Group Chief for the Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan (SOJTF-A). Prior to deployment, he served as a fellow in the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group.

He has served in a variety of leadership positions from platoon leader to battalion commander and in key staff positions leading planning teams and staffs. COL David deployed routinely on overseas contingency operations to the Middle East, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and Pacific. He was awarded a legion of merit medal, two bronze star medals, four meritorious service medals, the defense meritorious service medal, and the combat action badge, amongst other commendations.

In 2016 he was awarded the State of Florida Citizen Life Saving Award and in 2022 he received a commendation on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours List.

COL David’s military education includes the Infantry Captain’s Career Course, Combined Arms Services and Staff School, Special Warfare Center & School, Resident Intermediate Level Education, Defense Strategy Course, Airborne School, Air Assault School, SERE-C High Risk, and Pathfinder School.

His education consists of a Master of Arts & Science from the Command and General Staff College’s Local Dynamics of War Scholar Program, Master Degree in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelor Degree in International Relations from the University of North Florida. He recently completed the Artificial Intelligence Programme from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and is a PhD candidate at King’s College London. He is the cofounder of Fight Club International.

He frequently writes and publishes with pieces featured in Special Warfare Magazine, Foreign Policy, Real Clear Defense, Small Wars Journal, and War on the Rocks. He has won several writing awards and is a coauthor with Lt Gen (ret) Charles T. Cleveland, Dr. Ben Jensen, and Dr. Sue Bryant, of Military Strategy in the 21st Century: People, Connectivity, and Competition with another forthcoming book with Cambria Press, Warrior Diplomats: Civil Affairs Forces on the Front Lines.