Lieutenant Colonel Hal Bidlack, Ph.D., United States Air Force (Retired)
Senior Research Fellow

Dr. Hal Bidlack is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security, where he focuses on the domestic national security risks of climate change, including implications for U.S. military assets and personnel. Dr. Bidlack received his commission as an Air Force officer in 1980 and retired from active service in 2006. He twice served as a Director on the National Security Council at the White House, was Deputy Director of the US Air Force Institute for National Security Studies, and Action Officer for the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks at the Pentagon. He also served as Deputy Director of Security Programs and Military Advisor for the Office of the Coordinator of US Assistance to the Former Soviet States at the US State Department, Program Chair for the Environmental Policy Panel at the Air Force Institute for National Security Studies, Associate Professor at the United States Air Force Academy [USAFA], where he taught for more than 17 years, and as a Military Policeman.

Dr. Bidlack’s career since retiring from active service includes an appointment by the Governor of Colorado to the Judicial Performance Review Committee, and teaching political science at USAFA as an Adjunct Professor. He also served for four years on the staff of a United States Senator (Bennet – CO). He has a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Michigan. His dissertation, titled “Swords as Plowshares: The Military’s Environmental Role,” studied the relationship between military mission requirements and environmental constraints.