CSBA Council

General Philip M. Breedlove, USAF (ret.) serves on the Advisory Board of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he is also a Distinguished Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council.

Mr. Breedlove served for 39 years in the United States Air Force, culminating his career as one of six geographic Combatant Commanders and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. As Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and the Commander of U.S. European Command—in his NATO capacity he answered directly to the North Atlantic Council, and in his US capacity he answered directly to the President of the United States and Secretary of Defense. Previously, as Commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, he was responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat ready forces while ensuring theater air defense forces were ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime defense. As Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he presided over the Air Staff and served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group during a period of intense challenge as the Budget Control Act required a $480 billion reduction of the DOD budget. Accordingly, he led the organization, training and equipping of over 690,000 people serving in the United States Air Force and provided oversight of its $120 billion annual budget. As Assistant Chief of Staff for Air Operations, Plans and Requirements, he directed all Air Force operations across the globe, oversaw strategic and operational planning and set the requirements for all Air Force procurement. He held a variety of additional assignments including command of a squadron, a group, three fighter wings and a Numbered Air Force in service across three different continents. His extensive command and control experience in wartime, contingency and humanitarian relief actions include operations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. 

Mr. Breedlove earned his Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from The Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Aerospace Technology from Arizona State University, and a Master of Science in International Security Affairs from the National War College.

Christian Brose is Head of Strategy at Anduril Industries, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group. From 2015-18, he was staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In that capacity, he managed the Committee’s professional staff in support of the Chairman and other majority members in overseeing all of the programs, policies, and resources of the Department of Defense, as well as confirming all of the Department’s senior civilian and military leaders. He was also responsible for leading the production, negotiation, and passage of four National Defense Authorization Acts (FY16-19), which set policy and authorized spending for all U.S. national defense activities. From 2009-14, he served as senior policy adviser to Senator John McCain, supporting his work on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 2008-09, he was senior editor of Foreign Policy magazine. Previously, he served as policy adviser and chief speechwriter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, working as a member of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff. He began his career in public service as a speechwriter for Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Mr. Brose studied political science at Kenyon College and international economics at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Jonathan Burks is a policy and political professional with two decades experience at the highest levels of public service. He most recently served as the chief of staff to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, where he managed a team of over 40 staff and served as the Speaker’s principal adviser on policy, strategy, and management. Burks was promoted to chief of staff after having served as the Speaker’s national security adviser where he was responsible for advising the Speaker on sensitive intelligence, defense, and foreign policy issues.

Prior to joining the Speaker’s office, Burks advised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on budget and appropriations issues. Before going to the Senate, Burks served as policy director of the House Budget Committee, director of legislative affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission, senior advisor to the Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, and policy advisor in the transition office of the newly created Director of National Intelligence. Burks also served as the deputy policy director on the 2012 Romney for President campaign. Previously, he served four years at the White House, including two years as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and two years as a deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Mr. Burks has a M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. from Georgetown University

Lisa Stephens Disbrow is the former United States Under Secretary of the Air Force. From January to May 2017, she served as the Acting Secretary of the Air Force until Heather Wilson assumed the office. Previously, Ms. Disbrow served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller. From 1995 to 2014, she held a variety of positions on the Joint Staff as a senior civilian, including the Joint Staff Vice Director for Force Structure, Resources and Assessment. While assigned to the Joint Staff, Ms. Disbrow was detailed to the president's National Security Advisor as the special advisor for policy implementation and execution at the White House, where she assisted in planning and implementing the National Security Strategy.

Ms. Disbrow currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Mercury Systems, Perspecta, BlackBerry, and the Logistics Management Institute (LMI). She is a Senior Fellow at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and is the Chair of Mitre Corporation’s U.S. Air Force Advisory Board.

Ms. Disbrow is a graduate of the University of Virginia, and she served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1984 to 2008, primarily in the intelligence field. Following Operation Desert Storm, she left active service, continued to serve in the US Air Force Reserve and contribute to the intelligence community both as a reserve officer and as a senior systems engineer for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Tina W. Jonas has served at the highest levels in both the government and commercial sectors and is a recognized expert in military, defense, and aerospace issues. Ms. Jonas is currently an independent consultant and serves on several boards, including the Aerospace Corporation, Serco, Arete, and Top Aces Corporation. She also serves on the executive committee of the National Defense Industrial Association, the United Services Organization (USO), and is chairman of the National Military Family Association.

Ms. Jonas served more than two decades in government and national security positions. She was Undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) for the Department of Defense from 2004 to 2008. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Director and Chief Financial Officer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Financial Management, and as a senior analyst with the Office of Management and Budget and the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Her education includes executive studies at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Ms. Jonas holds an M.A. in liberal studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in political science from Arizona State University.

Paul Lettow served as the Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council staff at the White House from 2007 to 2009. He has also served in the Department of State. Paul is the author of Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and Strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime, as well as numerous articles. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Alexander Hamilton Society and the American Friends of Christ Church (Oxford), and on the Advisory Board of First Amendment Voice. 

Dr. Lettow received his undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University (Christ Church), and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Vance Serchuk is the Executive Director of the KKR Global Institute, the geopolitical strategy unit of the international investment firm KKR. In this capacity, Vance works on a range of KKR investments, with particular focus on defense, national security, and emerging markets. He currently serves on the board of Hensoldt Inc. Vance is also an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Previously, he served as the senior national security advisor to Senator Joseph Lieberman and as a professional staff member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In 2013, he lived in Japan as a Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi International Affairs Fellow and was a monthly columnist for the Washington Post. Vance’s writings have also appeared in the The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, National Review, and Politico.

Mr. Serchuk is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, holds a JD from Yale Law School, and was a Fulbright scholar in the Russian Federation. He has served for the past 8 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Mitchell Shivers is a former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy). In that capacity, he was one of the Pentagonʼs top policy officials developing, implementing and overseeing policy for the region. Mr. Shivers also served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense toward the end of the George W. Bush Administration. Previously, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Central Asia (with policy responsibility for an area that included Afghanistan, Pakistan and five former Soviet republics). From November 2004 to November 2005, Mr. Shivers was a Senior Advisor and the Economic Sector Chief of the State Departmentʼs Afghanistan Reconstruction Group at the United States Embassy, Kabul, Afghanistan. As such, he was the principal American advisor on economics and finance to several American ambassadors to Afghanistan as well as to the Afghan government.

An international investment banker by profession, Mr. Shivers retired from Merrill Lynch as Managing Director and Head of Global Public Credit Origination in 2002 – then the industryʼs top team in that highly competitive field. Also at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Shivers played a key leadership role earlier in the global initial public offerings of Indonesiaʼs first privatized state-owned enterprises – at the time the largest-ever IPOs to come out of non-Japan Asia. In his almost thirty years in financial services, Mr. Shivers held senior management posts in New York, Chicago, Singapore, Tokyo, London (twice) and Jakarta with Merrill Lynch as well as two British merchant banks, Samuel Montagu and Kleinwort Benson (where he was the first American member of the main board at each bank).

Mr. Shivers is a Distinguished Alumnus, Distinguished Business Alumnus and former trustee of Monmouth University and attended New York Universityʼs Graduate School of Business.

Prior to his appointment at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, Mr. Zakheim practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP in the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice group, where he served as co-chair. Before joining the firm, he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. In this role, Mr. Zakheim managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is the annual defense policy bill which authorizes the Defense Department’s $600 billion budget. Mr. Zakheim is currently a Congressionally appointed Commissioner on the Commission on the National Defense Strategy of the United States. Previously, Mr. Zakheim served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, where he managed the department’s policies and programs related to the Iraq and Afghanistan coalition affairs.

Mr. Zakheim frequently speaks and writes on national security and defense issues. His views have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Politico, National Public Radio, Fox News, CNN, BBC, The Weekly Standard, National Review, among other media outlets.

He received a B.A. from Columbia University, a M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a JD from New York University School of Law.