Rick Francona Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona ( born 31 August 1951 ) is an author , commentator and media military analyst . He is a retired United States Air Force intelligence officer with extensive experience in the Middle East , including tours of duty with the National Security Agency , the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency . He was under contract to NBC News and appeared regularly on NBC , MSNBC and CNBC , as well as Radio Canada and other media . In 2013 , he became a military analyst with CNN . Background . Rick Francona served for over 27 years in the U . S . Air Force , most of it in the Middle East . Fluent in Arabic , he served in the region with the National Security Agency , the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency . The colonel has a bachelor ' s degree from Chapman College ( now Chapman University ) in Government and the Arabic language , and a Master ' s Degree from Troy State University in International Relations with a concentration in Middle East studies . He is a cousin of former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona . Francona and his wife Emily , also a retired air force intelligence officer , reside on the Oregon Coast . Military service . Lt Col Rick Francona enlisted in the air force in 1970 , and served as a Vietnamese linguist until 1973 , conducting combat aerial reconnaissance missions over Vietnam and Laos in a variety of strategic and tactical aircraft . After Arabic language training , he served at a variety of locations in the Middle East from 1975 to 1977 , and supported the evacuation of the U . S . Embassy in Beirut , Lebanon in 1976 . In 1978 , he became an Arabic language instructor at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey , California . Following his commissioning in 1979 , Lt Col Francona was an instructor at the Air Force Intelligence School in Denver , Colorado . From 1982 to 1984 , he was a Middle East operations officer with the National Security Agency in the United States and overseas . In 1984 , he was assigned as an advisor to the Royal Jordanian Air Force in Amman , Jordan . In 1987 , he was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as the assistant Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East . During this assignment , he spent much of 1987 and 1988 at the U . S . Embassy in Baghdad , Iraq , as a liaison officer to the Iraqi armed forces Directorate of Military Intelligence . Lt Col Francona traveled extensively as an observer of Iraqi combat operations against Iranian forces , and flew sorties with the Iraqi air force . His observations were key to the discovery of Iraqi chemical weapons capabilities and ballistic missile modifications . Immediately following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August , 1990 and through the Gulf War , Lt Col Francona was deployed to the Gulf as the personal interpreter and advisor on Iraqi armed forces to commander in chief of the U . S . Central Command , General Norman Schwarzkopf , Jr . As such , he was the lead interpreter for ceasefire talks with the Iraqi military at Safwan , Iraq , in March , 1991 . After the end of the Gulf War , the colonel served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense , and was a principal author of the Department of Defense report to Congress on the conduct of the Gulf war . In 1992 , he was selected to be the first air attaché to the U . S . Embassy in Damascus , Syria , returning to the United States in early 1995 . From 1995 to 1996 , Francona served with the Central Intelligence Agency , and participated in a variety of sensitive operations in the Middle East , including the escape of an Iraqi scientist ' s family . During one of these operations , he survived an attempt on his life by Iraqi Intelligence Service agents . He was later awarded the CIA Bronze Seal Medallion for his service to the CIA . In 1996 , the colonel was selected to develop the Department of Defense counterterrorism intelligence branch . In late 1997 , the colonel led a special operations team supporting NATO forces in Bosnia . He returned to the United States and retired from active duty in 1998 . His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , the Defense Superior Service Medal , the Bronze Star , and nine Air Medal s , as well as campaign awards for service in Vietnam , the Persian Gulf , and the Balkans . The colonel was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Seal Medallion for his service with that agency . In 2006 , Lt Col Francona was inducted into the Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame . Commentary . Lt Col Francona is a media analyst on Middle East political - military events , formerly under contract to NBC News and appeared regularly on NBC " Nightly News " , the " Today Show " , MSNBC , " Hardball with Chris Matthews " , " Scarborough Country " , " Countdown with Keith Olbermann " , and others . He also writes articles for MSNBC , the Council on Foreign Relations , and his blog at Middle East Perspectives . He frequently speaks to conventions and public service audiences . In 2010 , Francona appeared as a subject matter expert on the Iraqi military and Saddam Hussein in an episode of Spike TV ' s " Who is the Deadliest Warrior . " In 2013 , he began working as a miliary analyst for CNN , commenting on the Syrian civil war and chemical warfare issues . The Pentagon ' s military analyst program . In April 2008 , documents obtained by " New York Times " reporter David Barstow revealed that Francona had been recruited as one of over 75 retired military officers involved in the Pentagon military analyst program . Participants appeared on television and radio news shows as military analysts , and / or penned newspaper op / ed columns . The program was launched in early 2002 by then - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke . The idea was to recruit " key influentials " to help sell a wary public on " a possible Iraq invasion . "