Gary Anderson received his BS Degree in Aviation Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an MA from Pepperdine University. From 1969 to 2000, reserved in the Marine Corps, retiring as a Colonel (0-6). During his military career he commanded at every level from the platoon to the regimental level. During that time, he served as a UN Observer in Lebanon and saw combat in Somalia. He retired as Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. Upon Retiring, he became the first Director of the Marine Corps Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities. In 2002, he joined Hicks and Associates (now SAIC) where he rose to become a Vice President. In 2009, From 2003-5, he served as a pro-bono Special Advisorto the Deputy Secretary of Defense and as a member of the Army Science. Board.
In 2009, he joined the Department of State where he served as a governance advisor in Iraq with a Provincial Reconstruction Teat (PRT), and later led a District Support Team in (DST) in Afghanistan. He is the author of two of the Naval War College NEWPORT PAPERS (BEYOND MAHAN and TOWARD A PAX UNIVERSALIS) and has contributed to several anthologies on governance and peacekeeping. He has been an Adjunct Professor at GWU since 2003..He has also been a military commentator for PBS Newshour, Fox News, ABC, and the Larry King Show. He has been a guest columnist for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, WASHINGTON POST, and the WASHINGTON TIMES and a frequent contributor to the MARINE CORPS GAZETTE.
Professor Anderson is married with two children and five grandchildren.