Don Dellinger

LTC Don Dellinger is the U.S. Army National Guard Fellow in the CSIS International Security Program. He earned his commission in the Early Commissioning Program from Wentworth Military Academy in 1986. He has 25 years of service in the Army National Guard as a traditional guardsman and in the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) program. As a traditional guardsman, LTC Dellinger has served in command and staff positions at the company and battalion level in the Missouri, Illinois, and Guam Army National Guard. He entered the AGR program in 1994 with the Guam Army National Guard where he worked in a variety of positions at the battalion and state level in operations, training, personnel, and logistics. LTC Dellinger transitioned into the Title 10 AGR program in 1999 and served at the Army National Guard Bureau Training Division focusing on resource management. After transferring to the Oregon Army National Guard, he was selected into the Command Leadership program. While in Oregon, LTC Dellinger activated a new battalion and commanded the 2nd Battalion 218th Field Artillery. After completing command, he deployed with the 41st Infantry Brigade to Afghanistan as the operations officer for Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Phoenix. CJTF Phoenix is composed of over 6,000 soldiers from all the military services and 14 coalition nations responsible for training the Afghan National Army and Police. His most recent assignment was as the branch chief of the Strategic, Plans, and Policies Branch at the Army National Guard Bureau. LTC Dellinger holds a master’s in management from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. in accounting from the University of Guam.