Scott Anderson

Chief External Affairs Officer
Forge Institute

As the Chief External Affairs Officer at Forge Institute, Mr. Anderson leads the development and execution of the organization’s numerous innovation, training, and cyber operations programs. In addition, he is responsible for partnership development, stakeholder engagement, and he oversees compliance with our national security collaborations.

Prior to joining Forge Institute, he served and retired as Commander of the 223rd Cyberspace Operations Squadron of the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard. In this role, he was responsible for standing up the organization on orders from the Secretary of the Air Force and leading all aspects of the Cyber Operations Mission, including change management, leadership, and partnership development. He is results-driven and highly focused on developing and executing business strategies, including building relationships or coalitions to achieve mission success.

In 1995, Mr. Anderson enlisted in the United States Air Force as a Communications and Navigations Apprentice. After serving Active Duty for 8 years, he joined the Arkansas Air National Guard, where he then cross-trained to Cyber Systems Operations. In 2008, he was commissioned as an Intelligence Officer. After qualifying as a Mission Operations Commander (MOC), became an Instructor, MOC Subject Matter Expert, Chief of Standards and Evaluations; executing hundreds of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) missions supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has also served in/as The Joint Incident Awareness and Assessment Team, Cyber Conversion Officer, Information System Security Officer, Physical Security Manager, Personnel Security Manager, Communications Security Responsible Officer, and Intelligence Oversight Manager.

Mr. Anderson was born and raised in Washington State, and after graduating from Woodland High School, he graduated with honors from ITT Technical Institute, earned a BS in Industrial Technology from SIU and a Masters in Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas. He currently lives in Central Arkansas with my wife Laura, we have four children. He was deployed to Columbia supporting Counter Drug Operations as well as Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2009.

Masters of Science in Operations Management, University Of Arkansas

Retired USAF Major, Commander Cyberspace Operations Squadron, responsible for leading change and leading people

Arkansas Traveler, Designated as a goodwill ambassador for the State of Arkansas

Built the AF’s most agile and relevant cyber training unit, after direction from SECAF