Colonel Robert Thelen is an Active Duty Army Information Operations senior leader currently serving as the Chief of Staff for the Strategic Operations Directorate of the Headquarters, U.S. Army. He most recently served as the Senior Military Advisor to the State Department’s Foreign Information Manipulation and Influence Hub (Formerly the Global Engagement Center (GEC)). Robert also completed a tour as a Senior Fellow at the U.S. National Defense University researching national security interests at the intersection of U.S. foreign policy, influence, diplomacy, and defense. As an Army Officer with decades of operational practice, he has extensive experience with the Department of War operational and strategic influence, sensitive activities, and information operations across the globe. Robert served in U.S. Army in Infantry and influence functions, and had multiple operational and strategic planning assignments, including those involving information, influence, and security cooperation operations across Army and Joint formations with Partners and Allies. Robert has served on the Department of Defense’s Joint Staff and at the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) working within special activities to support and enable Special Operations Forces’ activities across the globe. He also completed tours at Africa Command and the European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. Robert holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from Illinois State University and a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.