COL Joe Funderburke is an U.S. Army Strategist who recently served as the Director of Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House. He leveraged 27 years of specialized education, training, and experience to advise and assist the President and to coordinate matters of national security and foreign policy among government agencies and departments utilizing the Inter-agency decision-making process.
Prior joining the NSC, COL Funderburke served as a Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His other Pentagon assignments included serving in the Joint Staff J5 as the Assistant Deputy Director for the Politico-Military Affairs in Asia, while simultaneously representing the Joint Staff as a National Security Fellow in the MIT Seminar XXI program. Additionally, he teaches a graduate-level course in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. COL Funderburke returned to Washington, DC in 2019 after serving as a Goodpaster Scholar in the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3) at the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). Other past assignments included Chief of Strategic Engagements and Initiatives at the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), a Fellow with the Army Chief of Staff’s Strategic Studies Group (CSA SSG), Military Legislative Assistant in the U.S. Congress, a Congressional Budget Liaison Officer on the Army Staff in the Pentagon, and an Army Fellow on the Chief of Naval Operation’s Strategic Studies Group in Newport, RI.
Operational tours include service with the 82nd Airborne Division, the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and the 8th Army in South Korea.
COL Funderburke has combat tours with USASOC, JSOC, and USSOCOM. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, three Bronze Stars, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, and various other individual, unit, and campaign awards.
COL Funderburke is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, a Master of Professional Studies in Legislative Affairs from the George Washington University, and a Doctorate in Security Studies from the University of Central Florida.