Neil A. Garra served in the US Army for 21 years, and is a graduate of the Airborne, Ranger, and Long Range Surveillance courses. He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Physics from the University of Mount Union, in Alliance, Ohio, and is currently the Owner and Despot for Life of The S2 Company, at www.S2company.com.
Past Assignments
1980 -1982 Ft Benning, Georgia. Company Executive Officer, 2d Infantry Training Brigade
1982 -1983 1-38 Infantry, Camp Hovey, Korea. Asst S3 and then 4.2″ mortar platoon leader,
1984-1989 5th ID(M), Ft Polk, La. Assistant Bde S3; Assistant BN S3; HHC/1-61 Infantry Commander;
December 1987 – June 1989 Commander of the Long Range Surveillance Detachment, 105th Military Intelligence Battalion, Ft Polk, Louisiana. This warrants special mention, because I named many of the fictional US Army Rangers in the story after the real-life Rangers in this unit. The physical abilities and characteristics, combat prowess, and general attitude of Sukey reflect those of my Supply Sergeant, an amazing woman whose name won’t appear here until I get her permission.
1989 – 1993 Intel School, Ft Huachuca. Instructor; Chief of Combined Arms Branch; Chief of Tactics Division.
1991 – Volunteered to branch transfer from Infantry to Military Intelligence.
1993 – 1997 1st ID(M), Ft Riley, KS. Deputy G2; 101st MI BN XO; S2 of 1st Bde; Commander, HHC USAG.
1997 – 1999 Battle Command Battle Laboratory (Huachuca) Vice Deputy Director, Science & Technology Adviser, Geek-to-Grunt Interface
1999 – 2000 Chief of Skunkworks and Wreaker of Havoc, Distance Learning Office, US Army Intelligence Center and School
2000 – Present Commander of The S2 Company.
A Few Activities
Frequent guest speaker and lecturer at the US Army Intelligence Center and School, Ft Huachuca, Arizona.
Presenter and member of the “Analytic Wargaming Panel” at the International Conference on Intelligence Analysis. May 2005. Presentation name: ” ‘Game’ to ‘Intelligence Analysis Wargame’: General Case to Special Case ”
Keynote speaker at the National Security Agency’s Third Annual Analysis Conference in May, 2005. Presentation name: “Designing Wargames for Intelligence Analysis”.
Speaker at the ODNI’s Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence summer seminar, July 2007. Presentation name: “Design and Use of Wargames for Learning Intelligence Analysis”
Speaker at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Educational Simulations & Serious Games Symposium, August, 2007. Presentation name: “The Analytic Wargaming Environment”
Former Treasurer and Webminister of the Military Intelligence Corps Association.
Former member of the Sierra Vista Information Technology Task Force.
Modus Operandi
Primary problem solving technique is innovation and creativity. Loves to design new solutions to both old and new problems. Views the personal computer and the Internet as creativity projection platforms par excellence. Superb instructor. Tactical Intelligence expert. Experienced Web designer and programmer. Designer of Intelligence Analysis Wargames. Visionary. Lives outside the box, occasionally peering inside to see what the others are up to.