David Blair, USAF

David Blair is a U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff's Captain's Ph.D. Scholar, attending Georgetown University's Government Department, where he researches applications of counterterror network models to the suppression of illicit markets, with a concentration in human trafficking.

Before arriving in Washington, Major Blair served as the assistant operations officer for Warfighting and MQ-1B Instructor Pilot in the 3rd Special Operations Squadron—the Air Force Special Operations' sole Predator unit, at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. He led the squadron's plans, tactics and intelligence sections, built and executed short notice operational plans for world-wide contingencies, and developed and tested tactics to meet mission requirements. In the 3rd, Major Blair also served as Flight Commander, as well as Liaison Officer and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Battle Captain for Special Operations Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Major Blair began his flying career as an AC-130 gunship pilot with a number of deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has also served in the Defense Attaché Office Moscow and the United States Naval War College's War Gaming Division. He writes on organizational structure, Remotely Piloted Aircraft culture and persistent airpower with a number of articles in the Air and Space Power Journal.  

Major Blair earned a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2004. He is a 2002 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he studied International Relations and Russian Area Studies.