Douglas Ollivant Douglas Ollivant is a Senior National Security Studies Fellow at the New America Foundation as well as a Principal of the O2 Group and an operating advisor to Monument Capital Group . Most recently , Doug was a senior counterinsurgency advisor to Regional Command - East , as part of the International Security Assistance Force COIN Advisory and Assistance Team . A former Director for Iraq on the National Security Council under the Bush and Obama administrations . Ollivant has served two tours in the Iraq War , first as the operations officer for the First Battalion , Fifth Cavalry Regiment during OIF II and later as the Chief of Plans for Multi - National Division - Baghdad during the “ Surge ” , leading the team which wrote the Baghdad Security Plan Military service . A former assistant professor at the United States Military Academy ' s Department of Social Sciences , he is affiliated with a group of military intellectuals , who have been tapped to provide insight and recommendations to General David Petraeus , in what was labeled by Tom Ricks as Petraeus ’ s “ brain trust ” or " warrior - intellectuals " . Others in this list include , Brigadier General Bill Rapp , Colonel ( P ) H . R . McMaster , Colonels Peter Monsoor , and Michael Meese , Lieutenant Colonels John Nagl , Mike George , Jen Easterly , Paul Yingling , Bill Ostlund and Charles Miller , as well as Dr . David Kilcullen and Dr . Carter Malkesian . In her 2008 book , Tell Me How This Ends , Linda Robinson called Ollivant the “ right person in the right place at the right time ” for his work in devising the operational implementation of the successful Baghdad Security plan . Military Writings . In 2006 Ollivant co - authored , with Captain Eric Chewning , an influential article in Military Review , entitled " Producing Victory : Rethinking Conventional Forces in Counterinsurgency Operations " , and a 2007 follow - on article , entitled " Producing Victory : a 2007 postscript for implementation " , that articulated the need for US forces to abandon sprawling forward operating bases and move into Iraqi communities . The premise of the essay was that counterinsurgency requires military units to simultaneous execute security operations , train local security forces , promote economic development , and foster political institutions . Ollivant and Chewning argued that conventional military units best operate in such an environment when partnered with indigenous security forces co - located among the target population . The white paper , which was based on Ollivant and Chewning ’ s experience during combat operations in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 , significantly influenced the tactical deployment of US and Iraqi ground forces during the “ Surge ” . From October 2006 to December 2007 Ollivant was Chief of Plans for Multi National Division - Baghdad and was the lead coalition force planner for the development and implementation of the Baghdad Security Plan in coordination with the Iraqi Security Forces . In 2008 a review symposium on the FM 3 - 24 Counterinsurgency Manual sponsored by Perspectives on Politics , Ollivant called for an expansion of irregular warfare doctrine and warned of a potential over reliance on counterinsurgency frameworks in the future . He notes that the absence of a larger framework of warfare tends to pull all instances of irregular war into the counterinsurgency model . This theoretical lacuna presents a difficulty since future conflicts will require peace enforcement , peacekeeping , nation building , and other paradigms to also compete as frameworks for action . In March 2010 , Ollivant and Chewning published an article in The American Interest outlining the military , political , and economic actions necessary for a successful US - Iraqi relationship after the US troop withdrawal . Other Writings . Beyond his contributions to military theory , Ollivant wrote a series of articles and book reviews dealing primarily with Catholic political theorists Jacques Maritain and Orestes Brownson , and edited a book of collected essays on the former . Education & Professional Associations . Ollivant , a graduate of the US Army ’ s School of Advanced Military Studies , holds a PhD and MA in political science from Indiana University ( political theory and American politics ) and a BA in political science from Wheaton College . He is also a life - member of the Council on Foreign Relations , Veterans of Foreign Wars , and the American Political Science Association . Media Appearances . Following his retirement from the military , Ollivant has appeared on media outlets to provide perspective on the current state of military and political affairs in Iraq .