Captain Thomas P. O’Donnell, U.S. Navy, is a Military Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he focuses on the role the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense will have in U.S. strategy in the Western Pacific; better understanding the role that unmanned systems could play in that strategy; and the maritime industrial base infrastructure required to ensure the success of that strategy.

His previous sea duty assignments include serving as commander of Submarine Squadron 12, a squadron of seven fast attack submarines homeported in the submarine capital of the world, Groton, CT; as commanding officer of the USS Oklahoma City, a Los Angeles-class submarine homeported in Agana, Guam; as executive officer of the USS Providence in Groton, CT; as engineer officer on the USS Virginia in Groton, CT; and as division officer on the USS Maryland in Kings Bay, GA. O’Donnell’s assignments ashore include serving as director of the Commander’s Action Group and deputy executive assistant for the commander at U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, NE; as prospective commanding officer instructor for the Commander of Submarine Forces at the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, HI; as flag aide to the chief of naval operations in Washington, DC; as director of the Submarine Officer Basic and Advanced Courses at the Naval Submarine School in Groton, CT; as flag aide to the director of the Submarine Warfare Division on the staff of the chief of naval operations in Washington, DC; and as flag aide to the commander of Submarine Group Eight in Naples, Italy.

O’Donnell holds an MA in national security and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College and a BS in ocean engineering from the United States Naval Academy.