David Phillips

David “Jobs” Phillips is a nonresident fellow with the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a nuclear and missile operations officer in the US Air Force. A military instructor and evaluator, he has logged over nine thousand hours of nuclear command and control alert time in support of US strategic deterrence across three nuclear weapon platforms.

His research focuses on nuclear weapons policy, alliance integration in the Indo-Pacific, regional deterrence, and great power competition. His areas of expertise include extended nuclear deterrence, nuclear burden-sharing, collective defense in the Indo-Pacific, conventional-nuclear integration, theater nuclear forces, and strategic force posture.

Phillips’ experience across the US nuclear enterprise includes deterrence operations, strategic planning, nuclear command-and-control modernization, and alliance coordination in the Indo-Pacific. He has contributed to national-level deterrence efforts and allied coordination to reinforce US extended deterrence. He is also a former nuclear scholar and mid-career cadre member at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Project on Nuclear Issues.

He holds a master of military operational arts and science from the Air Command and Staff College, a master of business administration from the University of Denver, and a graduate certificate in great power competition from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a graduate of the School of Advanced Nuclear Deterrence Studies. His previous work has been recognized with the General Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award and the General Carl A. Spaatz Research Award.