Colonel Frank Stanco was the Chief of Staff of the Army Senior Fellow at New America for 2019-2020. Commissioned as a Field Artillery Officer in 1993, his U.S. Army active duty career spans more than 25 years. He has served at the strategic, operational, and tactical-level in units across the United States, Europe, Korea, and Central America, and has commanded during three of his four combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Adding to the breadth and depth of his national security and defense experience, Colonel Stanco recently completed a Joint assignment as the Executive Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who is responsible for the overall command of NATO military operations. Previous notable assignments include brigade, battalion, and company commands, the Afghan Theater Senior Joint Fires Targeting Officer, Combat Training Center Trainer/Mentor, and Director of Plans for a 4-star headquarters. As a strategic planner, Frank understands the underpinnings of an enterprise solution to complex problems requires clarity and a whole of government and Joint Force approach as they apply to national strategy.
Colonel Stanco is former National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School where he focused on the economics of national security, strategic management, design thinking, and corporate strategy. Frank also holds an MS in business from Central Michigan University and a BS in Pre-Medicine Biology.