Hunt, David

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Hunt, David

PERSONAL:

Born in Boston, MA; retired from military service in 1999 with the rank of colonel. Education: Norwich University, B.A., M.A.; Harvard University, graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

ADDRESSES:

Home—ME.

CAREER:

Norwich University, Northfield, VT, taught ROTC during master's program; U.S. Army, tactical advisor, twenty-nine years; Summer Olympic Games, South Korea, counter-terrorism coordinator; Federal Bureau of Investigation, security advisor; state and local police officials, security advisor; D.A.R. Inc., Scarborough, ME, founder and president; StorCard, Inc., member of advisory board; John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, senior research fellow; FOX News Channel, military analyst.

WRITINGS:

They Just Don't Get It: How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety—and What You Can Do about It, Crown Forum (New York, NY), 2005.

On the Hunt: How to Wake up Washington and Win the War on Terror, Crown Forum (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Colonel David Hunt served in the U.S. Army as a career soldier. He received both his B.A. and M.A. in English from Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont, attending on a hockey scholarship and teaching ROTC during his master's program. He graduated from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and became a senior research fellow there while making his home in Maine.

When his brother was killed in Vietnam, Hunt was inspired to joint the U.S. Army, from which he retired after twenty-nine years with the rank of colonel. He served in the Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, with Airborne qualifications, and in the Rangers, the U.S. Army's elite infantry unit. He was the counterterrorism coordinator for the Summer Olympic Games in South Korea and served as a tactical advisor to the NATO commander-in-chief, Bosnia. He has also been a security advisor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and for state and local police. This extensive experience makes him highly qualified in the areas of special operations, counterterrorism, and intelligence.

After retiring from the army, Hunt became a military analyst for the FOX News Channel and provided commentary for a variety of radio talk shows. He founded and is president of D.A.R. Inc., a company that provides international security consulting, and he is on the advisory board for StorCard, an organization that specializes in securing digital information.

In They Just Don't Get It: How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety—and What You Can Do About It, Hunt vents his frustration with the U.S. government's failures in combating terrorism. He offers harsh criticism of politicians, liberals, those who pretend to be allies, and bureaucrats in general, giving examples of missed opportunities and bungled operations and suggesting that those in charge do not have a proper understanding of what needs to be done. He includes proposals for solutions to organizational and operational problems.

In Military Review, critic John C. Barbee found They Just Don't Get It arousing, declaring, "David Hunt has written a book about a subject that should make every American reader angry and rightfully so…. Hunt is a patriot who is attempting to motivate people to demand substantive change."

Hunt also wrote On the Hunt: How to Wake up Washington and Win the War on Terror, in which he criticizes both military and civilian leaders on their handling of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism in general. He posits that politicians and military personnel have been more concerned with advancing their careers than in defending the nation and supporting the troops, and he offers advice on actions the military and the government should take to remedy the situation.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2007, Vanessa Bush, review of On the Hunt: How to Wake up Washington and Win the War on Terror, p. 9.

Military Review, November 1, 2006, John C. Barbee, review of They Just Don't Get It: How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety—and What You Can Do about It, p. 107.

Publishers Weekly, March 28, 2005, review of They Just Don't Get It, p. 68.