Whitney Grespin

Dr Whitney Grespin has worked in contingency contracting, professional military education, and stability operations on five continents. She received her PhD in 2021 from King’s College London’s Defence Studies Department, during which time she was appointed as an instructor at the UK Joint Services Command & Staff College and led the course revision for the Peace Operation Training Institutes Ethics in Peace Operations through her affiliation for the Centre for Military Ethics.  From 2020-21, she completed a Visiting Scholar engagement with George Washington Elliott School's Institute for African Studies and worked as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Institute for Future Conflict for AY21-22. Dr. Grespin is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Joint Special Operations University, and an advisory member of the Security Sector Reform Unit for the United Nations. She is currently a Lecturer and Regional Program Lead for West Africa for the Defense Security Cooperation University’s Institute for Security Governance.

Research Interests

• Security Sector Reform
• Africa
• Contingency Contracting
• Civil-Military Relations
• Professional Military Education

Dr. Grespin’s academic work focuses on the USG use of contractors to deliver foreign training to partner nation security sector actors.

Publications

Book Chapters

• “U.S. Contingency Contracting in the Total Defence Force: Framing the Industry.” in Eds. Joakim Berndtsson, Irina Goldenberg and Stéfanie von Hlatky. "Total Defence Forces in the 21^st Century." McGill-Queen’s University Press.
• Forthcoming “Gender Consideration Priorities Emanating from Programming of the IGAD ICEPCVE Centre of Excellence in Djibouti” in the volume Gender and Countering Violent Extremism: Perspectives, Approaches and, Lessons Learnt. Lexington Books, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
• “Enhancing Operational Effectiveness Through an Analysis of the Women, Peace, and Security Environment in Djibouti.” Sandhurst Trends in Conflict: Women, Peace and Security in Military Operations. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Howgate Publishing. 2023.
• “The Easy Button: Foreign Military Training as an Exit Plan.” Sandhurst Trends in Conflict: War Amongst the People. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Howgate Publishing. 2019.

Research Articles

• Journal of African Military History. Things Fall Apart: Soviet Assistance to the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–1977. 6 October 2022.
• Journal of Strategic Security. From the Ground Up: The Importance of Preserving SOF Capacity Building Skills. July 2014.
• Small Wars Journal. The Spaces in Between: Mitigating Threats in Undergoverned Spaces with Michael Rettig. 17 October 2013.
• PRIAD (Partnership for Research in International Affairs & Development). Shohna ba Shohna: US Interests in Transition from Coalition to Afghan National Security Forces. July 2013 printing; Volume 1, Issue 1.
• Stability: International Journal of Security & Development. Fifty-four Durand Lines: The Importance of Persistent Security Assistance in Africa. 23 July 2013.

Monographs

• S. Army War College Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute monograph, The Evolving Contingency Contracting Market: Private Sector Self-Regulation and USG Monitoring of Stability Operations Services Procurement. January 2016.

Policy Papers

• “Regional Strategy to Prevent, Counter, and Respond to the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the IGAD region” for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). 2022.
• “Capacity Assessment and Gap Analysis Report: Somali National Security Forces Improvised Explosive Device – Threat Mitigation Capabilities” for the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). 2021.
• “Ethics in Peace Operations” course revision for the Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI). 2019.

Public Media

• https://www.whitneygrespin.com/my-writing.html
• https://whitneygrespin.pressfolios.com/ 

Whitney Grespin PURE Profile