Melissa McAdam

Melissa McAdam is an analyst with CNA’s Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research and development center.  In this role, she has worked on a wide range of tactical and operational issues of interest to the United States Marine Corps, such as the coordination of fires in an amphibious landing, a cost analysis of maintenance philosophies for Marine Corps equipment, and the integration of Special Operations Forces and general purpose forces.  Her research interests include the training of military advisors and the strategic impact of U.S. military advising.  In summer 2014, Dr. McAdam will become the Center’s representative to Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the single functional command for the Navy’s expeditionary forces.

Prior to coming to the Center for Naval Analyses, Dr. McAdam was a pre-doctoral fellow at George Washington University’s Institute for Security and Conflict Studies.  She has worked in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy; in Afghanistan, supporting U.S. Army operations; and with the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.  Dr. McAdam holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.  Her research has been supported by the University of California, Berkeley; the Smith Richardson Foundation; the United States Institute of Peace; and the Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation.  She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in classics and political science from the University of California, Berkeley and Magdalen College, Oxford.