Bruce Wright

Bruce Wright joined CSIS in 2008 after 34 years of military service in the U.S. Air Force (USAF). His experience is primarily in joint military operations, including combat aircraft employment and intelligence  operations. Currently vice president, C4ISR, at Lockheed Martin Washington Operations, his responsibilities include integration of C4ISR applications and solutions in support of improving command and control (C2) for military, interagency, and intelligence operations.

Actively involved in joint and coalition combat operations during his career, he led 65 combat missions, while commanding an F-16C squadron during Operation Desert Storm, and a composite operations group during Operations Provide Comfort in northern Iraq and Deny Flight in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was also director for information operations on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon and commanded the USAF Air Intelligence Agency. He was vice commander of Air Combat Command (ACC), where he concentrated on promoting, reorganizing, and integrating USAF intelligence operations into all aspects of combat air forces capabilities and employment. While at ACC, he was directly engaged in achieving operational capability for the F-22, fielding of the Sniper targeting pod, and integrating Predator unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities into combat operations. In his last assignment, he was commander of 5th Air Force and U.S. Forces Japan and responsible for approximately 50,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, and Department of Defense civilians. During that three-year period, he directed improvements to joint and allied military operations, C2 and interagency coordination, and ballistic missile defense capabilities. Mr. Wright holds an undergraduate degree in aerospace physiology from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master’s degree in public affairs from Golden Gate University. He is also a graduate of the Syracuse University Senior Executives in National Security Course, the Air War College, the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, and the MIT Seminar XXI.