Alison Vernon

Alison Rimsky Vernon has conducted studies ranging from an overview of military operations in the 1990s; U.S. civil-military relations; the issue of interagency cooperation during military operations; the role of humanitarian operations in the War on Terror, Navy strategic laydown and global posture, and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps integration. Additionally, and most recently, she has conducted multiple organizational analyses focusing on subjects as varied as the Maritime Operations Center, Navy-Marine Corps integration, how the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) should be structured within the Navy, how the commands that oversee the shore bases should both be structured and integrated, component commands for SPACECOM, NATO engagement in the Sahel and North Africa, and operational medical logistics within the Department of Defense.

In the past, Vernon has also been the lead for a multi-year project that has analyzed the impact in host nations of 16 recent humanitarian engagement and disaster relief operations. From this work, she developed an assessment model for security cooperation that allows tactical-level operations and their effects to be linked to the achievement of strategic goals. She has used this model to assist in the assessment of similar missions for other commands and has also used this model to assess effects in training and special operations.

As part of these efforts Vernon has traveled extensively in Asia, South and Central America, the Caribbean and Africa, speaking to national leadership about their perceptions of these operations and the role of the U.S. military as part of an overall U.S. foreign policy designed toward creating partnerships.

Vernon was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in Romania and received a doctorate in comparative politics from Ohio State University, specializing in civil-military relations in democratizing nations. She also holds a Master of Arts in international affairs from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international studies from Miami University. She speaks Spanish and Romanian.