Applying his years of experience at this critical juncture to the Europe NATO portfolio, he paused working on his own behalf, but has now returned to the private sector. Mr. Ryan joined the Senior Executive Service of the Department of Defense in 2007 following a 25-year career in the US Air Force having retired as a Colonel. He was commissioned in 1982 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a distinguished graduate of the Joint Military Intelligence College, was a National Defense Fellow with Congress, and attended l'Ecole de guerre in Paris. His assignments include flying duties as an instructor pilot, flight commander, Red Flag mission commander, and assistant director of operations in the A-10A. His staff assignments include the Command Action Group in Air Education and Training Command and a tour in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the Country Director for Russia. Colonel Ryan has taught extensively in the United States and Europe including as a faculty member at the Joint Military Intelligence College (Now the National Intelligence University) and as a Department Director at the NATO School. Mr. Ryan served seven years in Brussels first as the Military Advisor to the Secretary of Defense Representative, Europe at the US Mission to NATO and then as the Defense Advisor to the US ambassador to the European Union. Prior to assuming his position as Director, Mr. Ryan was a Deputy Director in the ECJ-5/8 at U.S. European Command where he was responsible for the command's security cooperation program overseeing 39 Offices of Defense Cooperation throughout Europe and the Caucasus.