This post is based on an interview with Rick “Ozzie” Nelson. It is part of our series of interviews of OODA Network members. Our objective with these interviews is to provide actionable information of interest to the community, including insights that can help with your own career progression. We also really like highlighting some of the great people that make our continued research and reporting possible.  For the full series see: OODA Expert Network Bio Series.

Career Progression:   After graduating from George Washington University ROTC program, Rick went to Naval flight school to train on helicopters.  His call sign?  Ozzie!  He quickly excelled as an SH-2 pilot.  “These were REAL helicopters!  I loved them!  They were so much fun to fly.” Ozzie says.  Sadly, the Navy started phasing them out soon after his commissioning.  As a consolation, they offered him a plumb assignment as an Aide in Okinawa for the Commander of Task Force 76 – the amphibious forces for the Seventh Fleet.  Afterwards, he was given the opportunity to re-train with the newer SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.   While there, Ozzie was deep-selected for Lieutenant Commander (something that almost never happens).  “I had to learn to swallow my pride retraining on SH-60’s.  Most of the other pilots were brand new aviators just starting out.  It took some humility to get “trained” by guys way junior to me!” Ozzie laments.

Ozzie was able to mold the future career paths for Naval Aviators by working with the Community Manager, writing bonus plans and speaking with Congress to help shape the future officer corps.  Ozzie worked at Navy’s DEEP BLUE, a highly classified study program that the Pentagon set up after 911 to look at innovations.  He helped create the National Counterterrorism Center in 2005 and worked with an inspirational group of visionaries that would become his network as he transitioned out of the military.  He finished up his Navy career with the Special Forces, helping them plan operations throughout Afghanistan as the chief of an interagency task force.

Ozzie then spent four years at a think tank under the Center for Strategic and International Studies on homeland security and counterterrorism.  From this vantage, he had to learn that not all his great ideas were worth something!  At CSIS, he had to match a good idea to what was also marketable.  His passion always brought him back to counterterrorism, information security and information sharing, with a particular interest in interagency coordination.   “I like to get people thinking about the confluence of science, technology and policy.  This way, mutual goals can be better aligned and communicated.” Ozzie says.

Today Ozzie likes to fix broken businesses.  Ozzie thinks “I like to look at a company’s public strategy to see if it is aligned top down/bottom up through a process called Inverse mentoring.  First you have to get the smart kids to be able to communicate their technical prowess up the chain of command.  Then you have to get the leaders of the company to communicate their strategy down the chain of command.  In this way, you can align your public strategy to be successful.”

Surprises:  Ozzie knew from the start he could, and would be, a successful Navy Pilot.  He was totally surprised to learn he could also be a successful counterterrorism expert, and subsequently a successful Sales manager for software companies.

New Technologies:  Ozzie is watching the effects of artificial intelligence on terrorism and cyber.  “If you can’t define it, you can’t understand it”. Ozzie says.  “Today, everyone uses AI to mean many different things.  We can’t write policies and make good laws and business decisions until we come to a common understanding of what it is!”.

Advice for Decision Makers: “Find talented people that have the innate skills you need, like motivation and curiosity.  You can train them for the specific skills you need later!”  Ozzie says.

Views on Thought Leaders:  Ozzie learned his best leadership skills from General Stan McChrystal.

Quick Hits:

• Book Recommendation: Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character by Admiral James Stavridis.             
• Favorite piece of content on OODAloop: Quantum Computing by Bob Gourley.
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickozzienelson/